Light at its Darkest
by Sosh022
Summary: The Fallen Celestial Spirits are rising Lucy must defeat them. How? With old enemies and new friends. She must go on an epic key hunt for all 88 keys...but wait! There's more than just 88 keys? And what is the STAR alliance? Follow Lucy as she discovers new Celestial powers she never knew existed before.
1. The Beginning

Lucy sighed as she propped her elbow on the counter of the bar and leaned her head on her palm. Plue, her celestial spirit, was sitting on the counter next to an untouched strawberry milkshake. He was unusually quiet like his owner.

"What's wrong?" Mira asked while wiping the counter with a rag. "Something seems to be bothering you, Lucy. You've been sitting here sighing for a while now and your brows been furrowed ever since you sat down. If you keep frowning like that, you're face might just get stuck like that."

Lucy chuckled lightly at the concerned Mira. She could always count on Mira to cheer her up.

"Mira," Lucy called.

"Hm?" Mira stopped cleaning the counter and gave her full attention to the blonde in front of her.

"Do you think...do you think I'm weak?" Lucy casted her eyes down at the ground while lazily stirring her milkshake with one hand.

"Why do you ask that, Lucy? Of course I don't think you're weak," Mira replied with creased eyebrows.

Lucy sighed again. "It's just, whenever I'm on a mission with Team Natsu, I always feel like such a burden. Everyone is always constantly having to save me. Even Happy feels like he needs to protect me. Team Natsu is called the strongest team of Fairy Tail, and compared to Natsu, a dragon slayer, Gray, one of the strongest ice wizards out there, and Erza, who is unbelievably badass, I'm useless. I'm a burden to them, weak little Lucy." Lucy began shaking as images of the broken bodies of her friends flashed through her mind. She saw the way they struggled to stand, struggled to fight, struggled to win, just for her. She was always cowering behind their protective stance.

Mira slammed the her fist on the table, causing several heads to turn towards them, since Mirajane rarely loses her temper, but she didn't care at the point.

"What are you saying? You, weak? You, a burden? Honey, you're the strongest celestial mage in all of Magnolia! If not the whole world!."

"No, I'm not. You're exaggerating, Mira." Lucy groaned. She knows Mira's just trying to make her feel better, but no matter what, Lucy still felt useless.

"You have ten out of the twelve zodiac keys." Mira persisted.

"So? That means nothing if I'm too weak to use them properly," Lucy countered bitterly.

"You summoned the Spirit King!"

"It was just luck!"

"You beat Bixslow!"

"It was mostly Loke."

"He's your spirit! You saved everyone from Edolas! You helped defeat Lullaby. You helped defeat Oracion Seis! You beat Yukino. You mastered Urano Metrano. And I'm pretty sure you've saved Natsu's butt plenty of times. Lucy you are not weak!" Mira yelled almost angrily.

Lucy didn't say anything. Her face displayed the worry she felt and Mira's face softened.

"Lucy," she spoke in a soft, almost motherly voice. "You are not weak. You may not be the strongest in Team Natsu or in the guild but you are not weak. And you are definitely not a burden. You are family. And a true family will always accept you, no matter what. You are a fairy. You can't forget that, Lucy." Mira smiled softly at Lucy who smiled back weakly.

"Thanks, Mirajane. You really are like a big sister to me." Lucy reached over the counter and lightly hugged the white haired bartender. Mira just patted Lucy softly on the back.

"I'm glad you understand," she whispered into Lucy's ear. Lucy pulled back from the hug and Mira was glad to see a smile plastered on the blonde's face.

"Thank you, Mira, really. But I think...I think I'm going to go train. I want to become stronger, until I stop feeling like a burden. I need to train." Lucy clenched her fist.

Mira inwardly sighed but held back her protests as she saw the determination shining in Lucy's eyes. There was nothing she could say to persuade the celestial mage. She smiled understandingly at Lucy. "I believe in you."

Lucy smiled widely, glad that Mira decided to support her fully. Ever since Lucy first stepped into the guild, Mira had always been friendly and supportive of her. Lucy knew she was going to miss her.

"Lucy…" Mira started.

"Yes?" Lucy tilted her head.

"I just… I just want you to know, whatever happened, it wasn't your fault. Don't go blaming yourself over it, alright?" Mira was hesitant and Lucy could tell she was careful in choosing her words.

Lucy hung her head slightly so her bangs covered her eyes. "No. It was my fault. I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't strong enough to protect them, my family. It's my fault they're all in a coma right now." She turned around so her back faced Mira. "I'm going to talk to Master now about my training. See ya later, Mira." With that, Lucy walked up the stairs to Makarov's office. Mira frowned as she watched Lucy walk away, and didn't fail to notice how Lucy's body slightly shook.

* * *

"Come in," Makarov said after hearing three knocks on his door. The door opened and in stepped Lucy.

"Lucy! What can I do for you, my child?" The master exclaimed happily and jumped onto his desk from his seat at the sight of one his more sane and level-headed guild members. Lucy only smiled at the sight.

"Gramps, I want to become stronger. I want to ask for a temporary leave. When I return, I promise, I will be worthy to be a true fairy," Lucy spoke as she looked Makarov in the eye.

Master didn't say anything. Silence ensued for what seemed like eternity, until Lucy heard the old man sigh. Never had Lucy ever seen Master so tired, and it pained her.

"Alright, Lucy Heartfilia. I will allow you temporary relief of the guild mark. However," Makarov paused for emphasis. "you will always be a fairy, no matter what. Lucy, no matter what you think, you were always worthy enough to be a fairy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Lucy grinned at the old man with tears in her eyes, before lunging over and hugging him tightly. Makarov's eyes bulged out slightly, feeling Lucy's bust pressed tightly against his small frame, but overcame his perverted thoughts and patted his child on the head.

"Good luck, my child," he whispered as he removed the guild mark from Lucy's hand. "And may the fairies bless you wherever you choose to go." Lucy nodded and walked out the office. Closing the door softly behind her, she heard the quiet sobbing of Gramps inside. Steeling her heart, she pulled on a black fingerless glove over her right hand and walked out of the guild.

_I'm sorry, master. I lied. This is goodbye, Fairy Tail._

* * *

Lucy stepped out of the guild and breathed in the cool, crisp air of the night. She exhaled and looked up at the twinkling stars overhead. _May the stars guide me._

She reached towards her waist and pulled out a key.

"Open, Gate of the Lion." She turned the key midair, releasing a burst of magical energy as a magical circle appeared with bright light.

"You called, Princess." Loke kneeled down on one knee in front of Lucy, who merely smiled at her friend.

"Come, let's go, Loke. We have a lot to do." She started walking away.

"Of course." Loke followed his master, and together the two walked deeper and deeper into the shadows of the streets.

* * *

"Wendy, how are they?" Charla asked asked the blue haired mage.

"They should be awake soon, maybe a few more days. They all took a lot of damage this time. I did the best I could, but…" Wendy looked down at her two hands, feeling useless. Charla saw the look in Wendy's eyes and lightly touched Wendy's leg. Wendy looked down, only to be met by Charla's concerned gaze.

"Don't worry, Charla. I'm fine." Wendy looked up at the three unmoving figures lying covered in bandages. "I just hope they'll be alright."

Charla followed Wendy's gaze. "Don't worry. They will be."

"I know," Wendy spoke in a quiet voice. "I'm not worried about them. I know they will recover. I just hope Lucy-chan isn't…" Wendy's voice faltered and Charla could only gaze worriedly at her.

* * *

_Two Months Ago_

After saving Edolas from extinction and retrieving Lisanna, Fairy Tail was celebrating like there was no tomorrow. In the beginning, Lucy was ecstatic and joined in on the celebration. She helped restore Magnolia back to how it had been and even made a new friend, Lisanna Strauss. After hearing countless of stories of Lisanna from Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Mirajane, Lucy had always wanted to meet the girl who had played such a big part in everyone's pasts. Unfortunately for her, things were not so easy.

Whenever she tried to approach the youngest Strauss, Lucy would always find herself getting pushed away. Everyone wanted to talk to the white-haired mage, so Lisanna was always surrounded by people whenever she was in the guild. And like a true childhood friend, Natsu had constantly stuck by Lisanna's side the entire time. Lucy was left utterly alone. She missed her friends, but she didn't blame anyone. She understood the happiness of seeing someone after thinking they were dead. And she was glad Lisanna could feel cherished, even after years of being gone.

So, Lucy withheld it all. She held in the sadness, the loneliness, and the pain. However, when Team Natsu started going on missions without her, but with Lisanna, Lucy couldn't help but feel betrayed. She was left all alone by her friends. She couldn't handle the loneliness and confronted them one day.

"Natsu, how come you don't ask me to go on missions with you anymore?" Lucy asked Natsu, surprised to see that he was alone.

Natsu scratched his head and chucked hesitantly. "Sorry, Luce. It's just, I haven't seen Lisanna in years! I wanted to show her how much the world has changed so I ended up taking missions with her all over the world. Erza and Gray come along with us because they missed Lisanna just as much. There's nothing personal to it, Luce."

Lucy fought back a frown. "But, we haven't been on a mission together in a while. Why don't we go on one together just like old times?"

Natsu averted his eyes from Lucy as he replied. "Sorry, Luce. It's just, you know how I want to become an S-mage? Yeah, well in order to do that, I must get stronger. I needed to go on tougher missions. Lucy, you're a really strong celestial wizard, but I'm worried you'll get hurt if you were to come with us on the missions. I'm just trying to protect you, Luce. Erza, Gray, and I are all concerned about your health. Lisanna is a take over mage and is the sister of Mirajane, so we're confident she can take care of herself. You understand, right Lucy?" Natsu looked at Lucy in the eyes.

Lucy looked down, fighting the tears in her eyes. "So you think I'm too weak, huh, Natsu?"

Natsu's eyes widened. He waved his hands worriedly in from of him and shook his hands frantically. "No, no. That's not what I meant. I just-"

"Give me one chance," Lucy almost growled, her eyes still fixated on the ground. The bangs covered her eyes from Natsu who started worrying as Lucy's body began to tremble. "Just one chance, Natsu. I'll prove to you I'm not wrong." Lucy finally looked up and met Natsu's eyes. Natsu saw the fire in Lucy's eyes and could only sigh in resignation.

"Alright, just one mission," Natsu relented. "One mission couldn't hurt, right?"

Little did Natsu know he was completely wrong.

* * *

Lucy watched as the night stars sped by as she gazed out the train's windows. She sat with her legs crossed. Her elbow was propped up against the window and her chin rested gently on her fist. Loke sat in the seat across from her, his eyes focused on Lucy. The train was traveling north fast, speeding farther and farther away from Magnolia.

"What are you planning to do now, Lucy?" he asked, worry evident in his eyes and voice.

Lucy shifted her gaze from outside to Loke's own light golden brown eyes. "I'm going to fix everything. I'm going to avenge my old team," she spoke with complete resolve.

Loke's eyes widened. "You don't mean-" he inched forward on the edge of his seat. Lucy's face remained grim.

"Yes, I do. We're going back, and we're going to beat up that dark guild." The shadows of the night danced across Lucy's face. Loke felt a shiver run down his back. Lucy was completely serious.

* * *

"Mira, have you seen Lucy?"

Mira looked up from the counter. "No, I haven't seen Lucy for two days. Why? Do you need something from her, Wendy?"

Wendy just nodded. "I've been trying to find her for the past three days! I haven't seen her since they got back from that mission a week ago."

"That's because you were cooped up in the infirmary the entire time," Mira pointed out.

"I know. Erza, Gray and Natsu needed serious medical attention," Wendy pursed her lips, worrying about her friends.

"How are they?" Mira asked.

"They are definitely better. All of their conditions are stable and they are finally out of their comas. They should be awakening sometime soon this afternoon. It was all thanks to Porlyusica-san though. Her healing powers are truly amazing," Wendy beamed.

"That's good to hear. I'm glad they're all right. I wonder how they got beat up so badly in the first place," Mira commented.

Wendy's face turned serious. "That's what I wanted to ask Lucy. It's obvious there was strong magic involved, but I don't know what type. She was the only one there with them. All four of them were found unconscious in front of guild. But Lucy was the only one who was unharmed. She was the first one to wake up but disappeared immediately. I haven't seen her since then. There are just too many secrets. I am worried."

Mira smiled guiltily. "I saw Lucy around two days ago," she confessed.

Wendy's eyes widened. "Wait, then do you know what happened?"

Mira shook her head. "It was the first time I saw her since the mission. She seemed kinda down and asked me if she was weak. She told me she was going to go train."

"Do you know how long she'll be gone for?" Wendy asked.

"No," Mira shook her head again. "Gramps might though. She talked to him before he left. But he's out of town right now. He left two days ago for a meeting with the other guild leaders. He's worried about this dark guild. If they can defeat Team Natsu, who knows how strong they can be. He's taking precautions and organizing the other guilds to be ready for action."

Wendy groaned, frustratedly.

Charla gasped as she clutched her head and fell forward.

"Charla!" Wendy bent down and held her exceed in her hands. "Charla what's wrong."

Charla groaned. "Images. Lucy. Light. Argh." Suddenly, Charla's body went still, before she started chanting in a voice that sounded like twenty different voices overlapping.

"_In the darkest depths of the forgotten realm,_

_shines the dying light of the ageless one._

_The blood of the heavenly wolf shall merge with the stars,_

_and the cycle will break as darkness is overwhelmed."_

Charla fell towards the ground as her body slumped forward.

"Charla! Charla!" Wendy screamed as she cradled Charla in her hands. "Charla, wake up!"

"What…just happened?" Mira asked in a daze. The entire guild was silent, all eyeing the unconscious white exceed. No one moved. No one spoke.

"My children. What you have just heard, must remain a secret."

Everyone turned to the voice who spoke.

"Master…" Wendy whispered.

Makarov stood at the entrance of the guild with his arms crossed. There was no smile on his face. His eyes were serious as his gaze fell upon the limp exceed.

_The Prophecy is coming true._

* * *

**Thoughts?**

**Please review :D Questions, comments, criticisms, and suggestions all welcome.**

**Thanks,**

**Sosh**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail (think that's pretty obvious)**


	2. The Awakening

**Reader Replies at the end.**

**Enjoy, and please review.**

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Princess." Loke stood behind Lucy. They were hidden in the shadows casted from the tall castle that stood tall and eerie in front of them. From here, Loke could see no stars, only the moon.

"For the last time, Loke, I'm one hundred percent sure. I owe it to them." Lucy looked back at Loke and met his concerned gaze with a determined one. She gave him a small reassuring smile before turning her head to face the large wooden doors in front of her. She took a deep breath and reached for the handles. Slowly, she pushed the doors open and stepped inside.

Loke followed his master wordlessly, letting a lone teardrop slide down his cheek.

He knew.

He knew that even though Lucy was smiling, her eyes said otherwise. He saw in her eyes, that Lucy had already given in. She had already decided she was not going to survive this. But she is still going to try.

Loke felt his heart break from her resolve. No matter what, Loke would always follow Lucy and stay by her side, even in the worst of situations, because she was his light. She had saved his life, and now, he would risk his to save hers. This time was no exception.

"My, my. Looks like the fairy's back for another beating." A man with dark brown hair and burly arms taunted as soon as he saw Lucy walk inside the guild. Lucy recognized him as the guild master from a week ago.

"What? You came alone this time, fairy? I didn't know you guys were such cowards. Hah! Fairy Tail is the strongest guild, they say? What crap. We all know that Death Eaters are the best guild!" the man laughed. His guild laughed along with him. "You're asking for a death sentence, fairy. I don't know how you escaped last time, but this time, I'm making sure you're going down."

He cracked his knuckles as the rest of the guild stood up behind him. Evil smirks and hungry eyes penetrated Lucy, but she kept her composure. Loke clenched his fist in preparation.

"I will make you pay," Lucy whispered. Lucy charged.

* * *

"Wendy! Wendy, wake up! Wendy!"

Wendy slowly opened her eyes and immediately squinted as the bright light burned her eyes. She waited for her vision to adjust. She was sitting on a chair near Charla's bed in the infirmary, and had fallen asleep.

Wendy rubbed her eyes and glanced at Charla. She felt her heart tug. The exceed was perspiring like crazy and breathing unevenly. Wendy had tried to use some of her sky dragon magic but it wasn't working. Even Porlyusica couldn't do anything.

"Wendy! Thank goodness, you're finally awake."

Wendy looked up to the figure that called out to her. "Mira-chan."

Mira looked softly at Wendy and ran her fingers through the younger mage's blue hair. "Everyone was so worried about you. You suddenly fainted after trying to heal Charla. You've used up enough magic trying to save Team Natsu and Charla. You need to take it easy. I don't want you getting hurt also."

Wendy grabbed Mira's hand that was stroking her hair. She started to tear up. She pulled Mira into a tight hug and sobbed. Mira smiled reassuringly and continued stroking the girl's blue hair.

"They're going to be alright," Mira whispered into Wendy's ear, soothing the younger mage.

"I know! It's just...I just," Wendy sobbed. "First Happy, Natsu, Gray, and Erza. Then Charla. And now Lucy's gone. I don't know what's going on. I'm so scared." Wendy clutched onto Mira's shirt and dug her face into Mira's stomach.

Mira could only hold Wendy tightly in her arms. She felt bad. Out of everyone currently in the guild, the young girl in her arms was carrying the heaviest burden. Not only was she trying to take on all the responsibility of healing Team Natsu, but also her best friend Charla was unconscious and suffering, and her close friend Lucy just disappeared. For such a young girl, that was a terrible burden.

"Shhh. You don't need to be strong by yourself. Let us help you," she whispered. "We are your family. Don't to try to be so strong." Mira smiled when she felt Wendy nod slightly against her stomach.

The tears didn't stop, though that didn't bother Mira too much. She knew that sometimes, crying is necessary, so she let the girl cry in her arms. Mira prayed silently as she watched her friends lifeless forms and tried to fight back tears of her own.

* * *

Lucy panted. She was exhausted. She could feel her magic slowly being depleted. She wasn't going to last very long. This battle had pushed her magic to the very edge of her limits.

Behind her stood three of her celestial spirits. Loke, Aquarius, and Virgo stood in their battle stances. They all have taken quite a considerable amount of damage, but none of them were even close to giving up yet. Each of them was trying to summon their own spiritual energy in order to lessen the burden on their master.

Even alone, Lucy had done quite a considerable amount of damage. The roof of the guild was completely blown off, revealing the starless night sky. The guild itself was trashed beyond repair and recognition. Several members lay on the ground, moaning in pain.

But Lucy was not done yet, not even close. More than half the guild still remained standing, and she was going to take them all down.

The dark guild master eyed the three celestial spirits standing behind the blonde mage. It should have been impossible. A celestial wizard itself was rare but to be able summon two celestial spirits at the same time, that was even more rare. To be able to summon three...that's almost unheard of. It's so rare that it's known as a forbidden technique.

Still, the girl was just a girl.

Weak.

He smirked. "That's all you have? What a disappointment." He taunted. "I'm afraid this is it then." He lunged forward, his huge sword ready in hand.

"I'm not going down that easily!" Lucy yelled. If there was anything she learned over her one year at Fairy Tail, it was to never give up, no matter what. "I'm a fairy! And we will continue to fly, even after being beaten down!" she yelled as Loke jumped in front of her and blocked the swipe, while she jumped over Loke and kicked the man right in the face.

The force of the kick made the man stumble backwards.

"Heh, you like that? I call that move, Lucy Kick!" Lucy smirked as she wiped the blood off the side of her mouth and tried not to wince from the pain. She knew it was no time to be bluffing.

The man just laughed, a deep, hearty laugh. "You think you can beat me like that? I beat up your friends so easily a week ago. Even the famous Titania was no match for me." He smiled widely. The glint in his eyes scared Lucy. They were not the eyes of a sane man.

"How dare you," Lucy growled in a low, quiet voice. "How. Dare. You!' She yelled as she launched herself towards the man. Images of her friends in pain flashed through her mind and she tried the best to suppress her tears.

Lucy saw red. She tried hit everything within her sight. One by one, the dark guild members started dropping, as Lucy's fists made contact. Lucy's rampage stopped only when she got kicked right in the gut. The force sent her flying into the wall. She coughed up blood.

"You monster, " she spat. "You're not going to get away with hurting them!" She tried to advance but stumbled and fell onto the floor. Her body wouldn't move. She forced just her head to turn and stare at that man in the eye.

"Lucy!" Loke yelled out and tried to rush to her aid only to get pushed back. "Get your filthy hands off me! Lucy hang in there!" Loke punched the man aside and rushed to her side. He gently helped her stand by supporting her right arm.

"I'm okay, Loke." Lucy looked up and saw that there were still quite a few people left standing. All of her spirits besides Loke had gone back. She was officially out of magical power.

Lucy wanted to laugh helplessly, but was too tired.

"Loke," she commanded weakly. The spirit looked at her. "Go back."

"What? Why?" Loke was defiant.

"Go back." Lucy insisted again.

"No, are you crazy? I'm going to stay here with you," Loke didn't budge.

The entire guild charged. Loke limped in front of Lucy and crossed his arms in front of his chest, bracing for impact.

"Loke! No!" Lucy shouted, as they leaned on each other for support. "No! What are you doing?! I told you to go back! Force closure!"

"Lucy! I will protect you! It is my duty!" Loke shouted and closed his eyes.

"No!" Lucy grabbed Loke. "I'm not letting you do this." She shut her eyes, tears spilling out. _No. I can't let another friend get hurt because of me. Loke!_

Light erupted from Lucy and Loke's eyes widened in surprise. He turned around to see what was happening to his master, and gasped when he saw her eyes. Lucy's eyes had turned a golden brown, just like his. The guild member's attacks had been neutralized. The guild members looked away and shielded their eyes from the bright, shining light.

Lucy felt a familiar warmth surge up inside of her. _This feeling, it's the same feeling I got as last time, when Team Natsu was in danger. _The warmth was one Lucy welcomed. It calmed her mind and reminded her of her mother's embrace when she was just a baby. _More, I want more. _

When Lucy spoke, it was not her voice.

"REGULUS IMPACT!"

Light exploded from Lucy's body. It was too bright, even for Loke. He shut his eyes as tightly as he could, and felt his grip on Lucy loosen. He panicked and tried to grab on tighter, but his hand seem to pass right through her. One of them, was slowly disappearing.

* * *

"They're awake!" Wendy ran around the guild, shouting as loud as her little body will allow her. "They're awake, everyone! Team Natsu is awake!"

The reaction was immediate. Fairy Tail, which was once so quiet in tension, suddenly erupted in joyful cheers and relieved whoops. Wasting no time, Mira, Lisanna, Juvia, Levy, and Gajeel rushed into the infirmary. Wendy came in after them, a big smile plastered on her face.

At the sight of Happy flying around the room, Natsu's friendly grin, Gray's bare chest and hospital gown on the floor, and Erza flexing her arms in her signature Heart Kreutz armor, everyone almost erupted into tears, finally relieved of the worry that plagued their hearts for the past week.

"Everyone! You're okay!" Levy shouted and wiped away a stray tear.

"Natsu!" Lisanna rushed over and crushed the pink head into a hug. "I was so worried!" She cried into his chest.

Natsu just chuckled. "Hehe. Sorry to worry you guys." He pumped his fist into the air. "Ugh. Next time I see that guy, I'm bashing him up for good!" He smirked.

Lisanna smacked his head lightly. "No, you need to rest first. You were in a coma for a week!"

Erza shook her head at her teammate's rashness. "They were well prepared for us. We were too rash and fell into their trap. I can't believe I didn't see it coming."

Mira smiled softly at her old rival. "It's okay, Erza, no need to beat yourself over it."

Erza shook her head in response, her face was grave. "You don't understand, Mira. We were overwhelmed within minutes." Erza put her finger to her chin. She seemed to be deep in thought. "However, I do not think we would have been defeated. Sure, we were beaten pretty badly, but we are fairies. We never give up! Natsu, Gray, and I have overcome situations far worse. No, it wasn't the dark guild that I was worried about, it was afterwards."

"Afterwards?" Mira asked, confused.

"Natsu, Gray, and I were being cornered. We were far outnumbered, but not defeated. One of the men, I think he was the master, charged at us with his huge sword. I was prepared to intercept it, but...the strike never came." Erza looked at her hands, as she recalled the intense light.

"All of a sudden, there was a blast of light. It was far more brighter and far more intense than any light I've experienced." Erza paused. "After that, I blacked out."

Silence.

No one knew what to think. What type of magic was strong enough to knock the strongest team in Fairy Tail into a coma for a week? They were too scared to even begin imagining.

It was Gray who broke the silence. "Where's Lucy?"

The atmosphere became even more tense than before. Gray looked at Wendy, Levy and Mira, eyes beseeching an answer.

Wendy merely shook her head, feeling too weak to do anything else. She was scared to speak, fearing she would break down again the moment she opened her mouth.

Levy sobbed quietly into her hands, while Mira looked down on the floor.

Worry flooded Erza upon seeing the reactions of her guildmates. "Where is she?" she asked impatiently.

"We don't know." It was Levy who spoke. Natsu, Gray and Erza all turned their heads to the rune mage.

"We really don't know. One day, we found you guys lying there motionless in front of the guild. Mira and Master freaked out. You guys were barely breathing. We got Wendy and Porlyusica but none of them could figure out the cause. Luckily they were able to stabilize your conditions. As for Lucy...she was lying unconscious with you guys, but she had less scratches. Nonetheless, we settled her down onto a bed here in the infirmary but the next day when Wendy came to check up on you guys...she was gone. I haven't seen her since. It's already been a week."

Erza was taken aback. Where did Lucy go? Why didn't she tell anyone? Is she safe? Constant worries bombarded Erza. She didn't want to lose her family. Once again, she was too weak to protect her family. She clenched her fists.

"Um," Mira spoke up. "I saw Lucy, the night after." All the heads snapped towards Mira's direction.

"You saw Lu-chan? What did she say? Did she tell you where she went? Did she give any hints?" Levy asked in a jumble.

"Calm down, Levy. I talked to Lucy and she seemed down about the mission. She blamed her fault that everyone got hurt so badly. She told me she was going to get stronger. So she...left."

Natsu growled. "Lucy…" he spoke in a low, dangerous voice. "Lucy isn't weak! What is she thinking!" He hit the bed with his fist. "I have to find her!"

"No! You will not."

Eyes turned toward the new presence in the room. It was Master.

"Gramps...," Natsu trailed off. He looked gravely serious and almost angry.

"Lucy has requested I let her leave. She wants to go on this journey to find herself. Every mage goes through this phase. I will not let you stop her." Makarov glared at Natsu, making sure his point was clear. After a short stare down, Natsu slumped forward in resignation. Natsu had relented.

Gramp's eyes, softened, as he looked at his children. "I'm glad you're all okay, my brats." He teared up, and immediately, Natsu, Gray and Erza ran towards him, crushing him in a tight hug.

"Old Gramps!"

Everyone just smiled at the sight. It was moments like these, that made Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail.

Makarov suddenly cleared his throat after he removed himself from the hug. "I'm glad to see you're alright, but there's much to be done." He eyed the three previously comatose mages. "This dark guild is getting out of hand. We need to handle them immediately. I have already contacted Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale. Each guild is going to send in its top mages and work together to defeat that guild. The Death Eaters have to be stopped. I know you guys just woke up but…" he faltered. Maybe he was asking too much from his children.

Natsu, Gray, and Erza looked at each other before smirking. "You can count on us, Gramps." They said simultaneously.

Makarov looked at them proudly. His face donned a grateful smile. He turned to Wendy, "If you don't mind, Ms. Marvel."

Wendy looked hesitantly at Charla. She didn't want to leave her friend alone, especially when the exceed seemed to be in an unstable state. Everyone watched in silence as the young sky dragon slayer debated silently over her decision.

They weren't surprised when Wendy suddenly bowed. "I will do my best!"Makarov smiled, once again grateful for everything his children were willing to sacrifice.

Lisanna cut in. "I want to go too!"

Master just nodded. "Be safe, my children. The gathering of the guilds is in two days. Until then, do your best to prepare."

As he walked out the infirmary, he tilted his head upwards, as if looking at stars that could not be seen.

_Please let us make it in time._

* * *

Lucy saw darkness. Everywhere she looked, there was darkness. The darkness seemed almost tangible, and like a living, breathing thing. The thought scared her. The darkness, it seemed to be swallowing her.

She heard a voice.

"_Weak." _Lucy could recognize that voice anywhere.

"_Weak. You're too weak to go on missions with us." _Lucy clutched her ears and closed her eyes, trying to shut the voice out.

"_I want to be an S-class mage. You're just a burden." _Lucy bit her lip and fought back the tears.

"_I have to constantly worry about you and protect you. You always get us into trouble. Even Happy is more helpful than you." _Lucy crouched down, eyes still shut. Tears came streaming down her face, but the voice didn't stop.

"STOP!" Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She sobbed. She had failed. She had failed to save her family. She had failed to save Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy, Loke…

"_Help." _A soft voice rippled through the darkness. The voice was unfamiliar to Lucy, and it surprised her enough to stop her from breaking down right there. She didn't recognize voice as anyone's she knew, but Lucy couldn't help but feel like she has heard the voice before.

"_Follow the light. Deep into the darkness. Help me, young one." _

Lucy opened her eyes. There was no light. She was still wallowed in complete darkness. Then, a faint, flicker of light, caught her attention. She squinted. It was barely visible. She stood up, and her body seemed to walk towards it on its own.

"_Yes, follow the light. I will be where the light shines darkest. Save me. I am dying." _

Lucy reached out towards the light. It seemed to be getting closer, but she couldn't tell for sure. Her body just moved on its own, as if in a trance.

"_Awaken, my saviour." _

All of a sudden, the light that seemed so far away, exploded in brightness, and Lucy found herself falling deeper and deeper into the darkness. She felt her mind go blank once more.

_"Come, Lucy Heartfilia."_

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Hopefully nothing is too confusing so far, but if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, just leave a review and I promise I'll get to it asap.**

**I had stopped following the anime and manga after the GMG, so if it's outdated, I apologize in advance. I will eventually catch back up with everything once this month blows over.**

**It's my first time writing Fairy Tail. Your reviews would help a lot and let me know if I'm moving in the right direction.**

**Replies:**

**A Furry Cat: **Thank you. I hope I can keep up the tension and excitement. I look forward to hearing your comments as this story progresses.

**ceceplayz: **Haha, I'm glad you think it was deep. Hmm, I guess you'll have to continue reading to find out. You may be right. Or I may be playing with you. :) It's an author's duty to keep his/her readers surprised and entertained.

**TheBayMan: **Glad you liked the beginning. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the story as it progresses further. Hopefully it will be just as interesting.

**cliffhanger2: **haha Hopefully, this satisfied you? If not, I'll try harder next time. :)

**12Rayne: **Well roll no more, my friend! Hopefully, this chapter met your expectations? *crosses fingers*

**Till Next Time, **

**Sosh**


	3. Realm of the Lost

**Important Note:**

**I created a poll for probable couples that I may or may not include. If you choose the 'other' option, just comment which couple.**

**go to my profile and vote!**

* * *

Erza, Natsu, Gray, Wendy, and Lisanna stood in front of the Magnolia City Hall. Erza had her arms crossed and was scanning the horizon. Natsu stood next to Erza, both hands on his head, waiting anxiously. Gray stood motionlessly, hand in his pockets and looking up at the sky. Lisanna chose to sit on the edge of the fountain and was staring into the water.

Wendy sat on the steps with her head down, staring at the floor, deep in thought. Erza quietly approached the young mage and sat down next to her.

"She'll be alright, Wendy," Erza spoke in a calming voice which she rarely used. "Both Lucy and Charla."

Wendy's head snapped up. "How'd you know I was thinking about them?"

Erza smiled softly at Wendy before turning her head and gazing at the rest of the three usually hyper mages were completely silent. "Because that's what we're all thinking about right now."

Wendy nodded. She understood. They were, after all, family. She was worried about Charla. She had never, ever, gone on a mission without Charla. She was her only friend for many years, her only family.

But, Wendy realized, she's not her only family anymore. She glanced at the dragon slayer, the ice mage, Lisanna and Erza, who was currently worrying over her like a big sister. Wendy let out the tiniest of smiles and shook her head. No, she would leave Charla in Happy's care back at the guild. Right now, she had to focus.

"Everyone should be here soon," Erza said as she looked up at the sun shining directly overhead. Noon had come.

And sure enough, when Wendy raised her head, she caught sight of seven approaching figures.

The team had assembled.

* * *

When Lucy woke up, she found herself lying in the middle of a forest. A very dark forest.

She groaned. Her entire body ached. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind from the huge headache. She gasped. The light. Loke.

She reached for her keys in a panic, praying that Loke was alright. Her eyes widened when she touched her belt.

Her keys were gone.

In panic, Lucy sat up and felt around the forest floor, hoping they were nearby.

"No...no...no, no, no!" she screamed. "They can't be gone! Loke!" she shouted into the dark. "Loke! Loke!" Her voice echoed as it traveled farther and farther away.

Lucy felt a chill go down her spine in fear. For the first time in a long time, she was alone and lost. Her friends were no longer by her side anymore.

She trembled slightly and Lucy wound her arms tightly against herself in an attempt to keep herself together. "No...no. They can't be gone!" she shouted. "They can't be…" she sobbed quietly.

A bone chilling sound in the distance made Lucy freeze on the spot. It was a wolf's howl.

She waited, unmoving. There it was again, the unmistakable cry of wolf. It was closer this time.

Lucy felt her heart quicken as she scrambled to her feet. _It's getting closer!_

Without even thinking, she started to run blindly blindly through the forest. The shadows shrouded the trees from Lucy's vision as she ran into branches and tree trunks and tripped over rock. The forest started clearing up, making it easier for Lucy to run.

Lucy didn't see the lake until she fell in, head first. The cold water seemed to cling to her heavily as she struggled to resurface. As she sank to the bottom of the lake, she looked up and saw the mirage of the starry night sky.

She stretched out her hand, as she struggled to resurface. The stars stayed out of reach.

_The stars…everyone..._

* * *

"...What happened here?" Natsu stared wide eyed at the scene in front of him.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Gray demanded impatiently, as he whipped his head around left and right.

Hibiki nodded. "I'm a hundred percent sure. The dark guild is located here. Well, it _was_ located here."

Erza scanned her surroundings and took in the uprooted trees, burned branches, and debris from what she assumed was the old guild. Where the guild once stood was now only a crater. Nothing else remained.

"So, what do we do?" asked Lyon. Everyone from Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Fairy Tail just stood there in confusion and shock.

"I guess...mission accomplished," Erza muttered as she tried to make sense of what happened. Had another guild taken care of them already? Then how come they weren't notified? Did another dark guild take them out? Erza shook her head. It was getting too confusing.

"Let's head back. We need to report this right away. The Death Eaters may have been taken down but if this was the work of another guild, we still need to be cautious. Understood?" Erza commanded. Everyone just nodded and turned around, ready to head back to town.

"Hold it right there!"

Erza turned around to see a hooded figure walk out from the trees. She eyed the mark on his arm and narrowed her eyes. "So there's still one remaining," she mumbled and drew her sword.

"Were you the ones who did this to our guild?" the hooded figure asked. His voice, though quiet was seething with malice. "I leave for two days on a mission and come back to this!"

Although his eyes were hidden, Erza felt his gaze on her.

"Watch your backs. Especially you, Fairy Tail. You have messed with the wrong dark guild. The alliance will not forgive you for what you have done." He ran back into the forest.

"After him!" Erza shouted. The others didn't need to be told twice before darting after him.

Natsu was in front of everyone else, as he ran with his hands ablaze behind him to boost his speed. However, even with his boosted speed, he couldn't catch up. "Damn, this guy is fast," he cursed under his breath. "I wish Happy was here," he muttered.

"Lyon! Gray! Sherry! Hibiki! Go left! Jura, Eve, Ren and I will go right! Ichiya, Wendy, Natsu go straight! Surround him! Don't let him escape!" Erza shouted.

"Alright!" everyone shouted in unison as they sped up.

Soon, the three guild alliance started to close in on the hooded figure. Like a pack of wolves, they had him surrounded on three sides, as they pursued their prey.

They approached a cliff. Natsu smirked thinking they had finally trapped him.

"What?!" he screamed as the guy jumped off the cliff without even hesitating. He skidded to a stop at the edge and watched the hooded figure fall several hundred feet into the forest canopy below. Erza ran past Natsu and requipped into her black soul armor while jumping off the cliff after the dark wizard.

Jura also didn't hesitate and slid down the cliff with his earth magic.

"Now I really wish Happy was here," Natsu muttered as he folded his arms and watch Titania and Jura disappear into the trees below. The other mages caught up to Natsu and were catching their breath.

"What should we do?" asked Sherry as she glanced at the think forestry below, looking for any signs of their friends and enemy.

"Let me connect everyone's thoughts so we can communicate telepathically." Hibiki said as he touched his finger to his head.

'_Everyone, can you hear me?' _Hibiki asked in his mind. '_Erza! Jura! How are things down there?'_

'_Erza here. I lost sight of the man,' _she growled.

'_Jura here. I can't sense him anywhere either.'_

Hibiki sighed. '_Very well, let's meet back at the cliff. There's no point in blindly searching. We need to regroup and plan our our next steps.'_

'_Roger,' _both Erza and Jura agreed. Within seconds, both mages appeared at the cliff's edge.

"Let's head back to the city," Erza said. "I want to talk with the mayor who requested this mission. He may know what happened. We need to hurry."

With that, the alliance walked back into the forest and headed for the town. Erza stayed back and scanned the tree tops below the cliff one more time before following the rest of the wizards.

* * *

When Lucy finally woke up again, she noticed that she was on a little island in the middle of the lake.

'_I'm alive_,' was the first thought that came into her head.

"So you've finally awaken," a voice spoke behind Lucy.

Surprised, Lucy quickly stood up and whirled her body around, getting into a fighting stance.

"I mean no harm, young one," the voice said. Lucy could tell from the pitch of the voice that the cloaked figure standing before her was a women.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked, still crouched in a fighting stance. Lucy felt fear overtake her body. She was alone in an unfamiliar place and her spirits weren't here with her. _Loke..._

"Do not fear, my child." The women took off her hood.

Lucy's eyes widened. She felt all the fight leave her body. She went weak in the legs and fell on to her knees.

"Mom…" The word left her lips breathlessly.

The woman smiled, and Lucy felt the tears slide down her cheeks as her heart swell at the familiar smile. "Lucy, my child, I missed you." Tears came out of the women's eyes as she opened her arms. Lucy didn't even hesitate before running into her mom's open arms.

"Mom!" she sobbed as she clutched onto the women for dear life. "Mom! I missed you so much! What's going on? I thought, I t-thought you," Lucy choked out between her tears. She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Shh. Everything's going to be alright, my child. I will explain time." Layla ran her hands through Lucy's hair, calming the girl down.

"Mom. I missed you, so much!" Lucy hugged her mom tightly. They stayed like that for a long moment, holding on to each other, as the stars shined above them.

"Lucy," Layla whispered when Lucy finally calmed down. "I did not expect to see you here this early."

Lucy lifted her head from her mother's chest. "What do you mean, mother? Where are we?"

Layla sighed. "This is not good. If you're here already, that means it's starting"

"Mom, what's starting? What's going on?" Lucy asked frantically. She didn't understand anything that was happening. Where were her spirits? Why was her mom, who she had thought passed away seven years ago, alive? Where was she? So many questions ran through her mind.

Layla only shook her head. "Answers will come to you in time, Lucy. But now that you're here, you must train and get stronger in order to leave."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, still utterly lost.

"Lucy. People do not just come here by accident. This place is very sacred. I was expecting to see you here one day, but, I didn't know it would be so soon. You must train hard and get stronger. Once you do, you may return to your world and fulfill what you were born to do."

"Mom...I don't get it. What's going on?" Lucy asked, tears in her eyes.

Layla only looked at her daughter sadly. "Unfortunately, I cannot tell you yet, my child. You must be patient. The answers will become clear in due time. For now, will you allow me train you? I, Layla Heartfilia, promise to teach you everything I know about Celestial magic. Lucy Heartfilia, do you accept my teachings?" Layla asked as she held out her hand.

Lucy could only stare at her mom speechlessly. She kept her gaze steady on her mom's face. Those warm brown eyes that Lucy missed so much since she was a child, promised warmth, protection, care, and love. Slowly, Lucy straightened her back and clasped her mom's hand.

"I do."

Layla smiled at her daughter, proud of how much she has grown. _Lucy, you have grown up so beautifully. You have had a hard past, and it was partially my fault, but I hope you will be able to endure the pain the future holds for you. Stay strong, my child._

* * *

"Hey, shrimp. Whatcha up to?" Gajeel asked as he walked up and sat next to Levy who was absorbed in a giant book.

"I'm trying to do some research on what might've caused Team Natsu's coma and the 'light.'" Levy said as she closed the book and picked up another one and began flipping though it.

"Any luck so far?" Gajeel asked.

Levy shook her head and sighed frustratedly. "None. I don't have much to go on either. But I can't get rid of the feeling that powerful magic was behind the reason of the coma and the light. And I think Lucy has something to do with it. The fact that she disappeared only makes me more suspicious."

"What are you saying? Are you saying bunny girl caused Team Natsu to go into a coma?" Gajeel growled, slightly irked that Levy would even suggest such a ridiculous idea.

"No, no! Of course no!" Levy shook her head. "At least not intentionally or consciously. Lucy is my best friend. I would never accuse her of hurting Fairy Tail. She would never do it, ever. But, I don't know. Magic is a very complex thing to understand. Celestial magic is one of the rarest forms of magic and there are little to almost no records of Celestial magic," Levy explained.

Gajeel crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, what if…what if there was more to Celestial magic than just summoning spirits from keys?" Levy suggested.

"Like what?" Gajeel asked skeptically.

"I don't know, but Lucy is a really strong Celestial mage. If she were in a situation that pushed her to her limits, she might've accessed some rare power. That might explain the light and the fact that Lucy was the only one not in a coma. If you think about it, Team Natsu got knocked out by a light, they return unconscious and in a coma in front of the guild, somehow escaping the dark guild, and no one remembers what happened. Then to make matters worse, Lucy just leaves," Levy explained.

Gajeel stayed silent. Levy had a point.

"I just hope Lu-chan is alright," Levy whispered as tears threatened to spill. Gajeel looked over to see the blue haired mage trying her hardest to fight the tears while researching like crazy just to help her friend. From the bags under her eyes, Gajeel could tell that Levy probably hasn't been sleeping very well lately. He didn't blame her. He hadn't been sleeping for the past few nights either.

_I don't care about whatever is happening, but bunny girl and her friends better be alright._

* * *

Cana closed her eyes in concentration. _'Please work this time,'_ she prayed silently.

In an instant, she opened her eyes. "Card of Prediction! Reveal to me the location of Lucy Heartfilia!" she shouted and threw the cards against the map of the entire EarthLand. None of them stuck.

Cana slumped down on her chair.

"No luck?" Mirajane asked as she walked over from the bar.

Cana shook her head. "I've tried every type of fortune telling I know. Nothing. Not a thing. It's as if Lucy just disappeared off the face of the earth."

Mira looked down in disappointment. "Wait!" her head snapped back up. Cana looked at Mira expectingly.

"What?" Cana asked.

"What if she wasn't on EarthLand?" Mira proposed.

"What do you mean?" Cana asked, still not getting Mira's point.

"What if she was in Edolas? Or the spirit world? Or some other alternate dimension?" Mira asked excitedly.

Cana's eyes widened. "True, my cards wouldn't be able to find her if she were in another dimension." She looked up at Mira and a single thought ran through their heads simultaneously.

_It's a long shot, but we can't give up. _

* * *

Lucy took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She had her eyes closed and was sitting in the center of the lake on the island. She concentrated and tried to reach inside her magic reserve. She pictured a golden pool.

Another deep breath.

She pictured her hand reaching into the golden pool. It rippled and instantly, Lucy felt her body fill with vitality.

"Deep breaths, Lucy." Layla called out. "Take it slowly. If you do it too fast, your magic will overwhelm you. As a Celestial mage, you have huge amounts of magic stored in your reserve, more than any other mage. It's because Celestial magic takes up a lot of magic. Keeping one key open for long periods of time will completely drain any other mage. You have to learn how to control all the magic within you in order to master Celestial magic."

Lucy took another deep breath. She cleared her mind and submerged her hand deeper into the golden pool.

"Gah!" she screamed as she whiplashed from the huge amount of magic that surged into her.

"Lucy, focus!" Layla screamed as Lucy was enveloped in a bright light. "You have to be in control! Lucy!" Layla started to run to Lucy.

Lucy felt her entire body shake from the magic flowing through her. _I can do this._

Lucy took another deep breath. _I need to get stronger. For my friends. For my family. I will be in control!_

The light surrounding Lucy died away and instead focused into a ball of light which levitated Lucy off the ground.

Layla stopped in her tracks and exhaled a sigh of relief. She smiled. _Good, Lucy. Very good. You will have to learn control to control your current magic before increasing your magic reserves even more. _

Layla sat down and watched her daughter meditate for another hour. Finally, the light embracing Lucy disappeared and Lucy fell down, panting heavily.

"Are you okay?" Layla asked.

Lucy smiled tiredly. "I'm fine. Just tired." She tried to sit up but fell back down.

"Relax. You used up a lot of magic today. Rest, my child." Layla walked over and put Lucy's head on her lap. Lucy smiled, enjoying the feeling of lying in her mother's lap again.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Lucy asked as tears threatened to spill from her eyes again.

"What is it?" Layla asked, glancing down at her daughter.

"Where are my spirits? Where are my keys?" Lucy asked.

"There, there." Layla ran her hand through Lucy's hair. "You're spirits are safe and sound. However, they are not allowed here. This place is sacred to all spirits and all Celestial mages. It is hard for spirits to come here. However, once you get strong enough, you will be able to summon them here, even without your keys." Layla paused. "Lucy, have you figured out where we are yet?"

Lucy looked up past her mother's caring gaze, up to the starry night.

"How long have I been in here?" Lucy asked quietly.

Layla shook her head. "Time is hard to tell here."

Lucy stayed silent, gazing at the stars. Her eyes caught the familiar constellations she often gazed at during the night.

"We're…in the spirit realm." Lucy stated, though it sounded more like a question.

Layla nodded. "We are in the deepest part of the spirit realm, where it is always night." Layla looked up at the skies like Lucy did and traced her eyes over the 88 constellations.

"We are in the realm of the Lost, where magic first originated."

* * *

"What do you mean the quest was completed three days ago?" Erza demanded as the man being question cowered in fear across from her.

"Erza, calm down. You're scaring him," Wendy spoke up, being the only one brave enough to speak against Titania.

Erza clenched her fist but backed down slightly. The mayor looked gratefully at the little blue haired girl before sitting upright.

He cleared his throat. "Well, as I was saying. After the Fairy Tail team was defeated," the mayor glanced nervously at Erza, who only glared at the man. "...the town had lost all hope. But then, one day, one of the Fairy Tail mages came back. She was blonde and carried Celestial keys."

Erza, Gray, Wendy, Lisanna, and Natsu all looked at each other with wide eyes. Only one name went through their minds.

_Lucy. _

The mayor continued talking. "She said she came back to finish the mission and set off for the forest. After around three hours, a huge explosion could be heard. There was a ball of light so big, it could be seen all the way from here. I assumed it was the blonde mage and that she was fighting the dark guild. I waited for her to come back, but she never did."

Silence. Nobody had the courage to speak. Wendy felt her heart stop. _Lucy...Lucy was…_

"No!" Natsu growled. He grabbed the mayor's collar. "What happened afterwards? What happened to Lucy?"

The mayor stammered nervously. "I-I-I don't know! The dark guild has ceased activity so I assumed she won. But she never came to get her award. I assumed she just left."

Natsu threw the mayor back down onto the couch. "No, no, no! How stupid can she be?! Challenging an entire dark guild by herself? What was she thinking?! What happened to being partners? What happened to being there for each other? Why did she leave by herself?" He screamed.

His hands lit on fire. "Luce cannot be….Luce is not….Luce." He fell onto knees and buried his face with his hands.

Erza looked away from the scene. It was too pitiful to watch. She herself was having trouble keeping her tears from spilling. She shut her eyes. _No. Lucy. Not Lucy. I am not losing another family member again!_

Erza clenched her fists and jaw. She stood up. _She was not going to give up. _"That's it. Get up! All of you," she shouted at the Fairy Tail mages who were groveling. "Lucy is not gone! She's stronger than that. We will find her! So stop crying. Our family needs us now!" she declared.

One by one, Natsu, Gray, Lisanna, and Wendy wiped away their tears and stood up.

"You're right. I'm going to find Lucy no matter what! Whoever stands in my way will pay!" Natsu shouted as he lit his fits on fire.

"No one messes with family." Gray clenched his fists. The Fairy Tail members looked at each other and nodded. They were not going to give up. They were going to find Lucy, no matter what it takes. They were going to bring back their family.

Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus looked at each other before facing Fairy Tail. They stood up. "We'll help you guys too. Lucy was our ally and friend. We won't stop until we find her."

Natsu smiled at his friends gratefully. Nothing was going to stop them from finding her. Nothing.

"Alright! I'm all fired up!" He pounded his fiery fists together.

However, a loud explosion outside interrupted the moment.

"Come out, Fairy Tail! I will make you pay for what you did to my guild!" A voice outside shouted.

Everyone's eyes widened. They recognized the voice.

"It's him." Erza spoke as she narrowed her eyes. "He's back. And just like he promised, he brought backup."

Without another word, Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus charged outside. They fought with one mage in all of their hearts.

_Lucy, wait for us. We will find you!_

* * *

**Author's Note**

**How was it? To be honest, I wasn't too satisfied with this chapter. Hopefully next chapter will be better. Idk. Thoughts on the pace?**

**Replies :Thanks for all the reviews! Please continue to review! They are my motivation!**

**12Rayne: **haha they are all bakas. But that's what makes Fairy Tail work so well together.

**Guest: **hmmm honestly, I haven't decided whether there will be romance yet. I created a poll to ask the reader's opinions.

**ooSomeoneUdon'tKnow: **lol i guess the light thing will remain a mystery until….next chapter! haha sorry for being such a tease.

**IamInk : **awww thank you! I hope I can meet your expectations!

**oxXSilverTomboyXxo : **hehe will do! I'll try to update asap.

**TheBayMan: **yayyy! I'm glad I was able to surpass your expectations! :D hmmm who is Lucy really?

**taboadayvonne: **updated! :DDD thanks for reviewing!

**~Sosh**


	4. New Powers and the Prophecy

**I decided not to include romance in here. I wanted to focus on the action.**

**If anyone really wants to see some romance, leave a review with the couple and I'll see what I can do.**

**Please leave a review.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Layla crossed her arms.

'_It's been 99 days. She should be waking up soon,' _Layla thought as she observed her daughter closely.

Lucy was meditating in the middle of the island. She was hovering above the ground in a criss-crossed position with her eyes closed. Her magic enveloped her in a circle of golden light.

Layla watched as the light wavered and the circle began to shrink, withdrawing back into Lucy's body. _It's time._

Slowly and gently, Lucy hovered lower and lower until she finally hit the ground. The glow had disappeared. She opened her eyes.

Layla smiled. She didn't think it could be done, but her daughter had proved her otherwise. "You did it, my child. How do you feel? Tired, I presume?" she asked softly.

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "I'm alright, mom. But how long was I out for? I felt like I was asleep or in a weird trance the entire the time."

"Oh, you were out for about 99 days," her mom calmly replied.

Lucy's eyes widened. "99 DAYS!? You're kidding me. I meditated for 99 days?! I can't maintain my magic power for that long! Plus, 99 days in the spirit realm is like..." Lucy paused trying to do the math in her head. "...almost 25 years!" Lucy exclaimed at her mother, whom only laughed.

"Oh, but you did. Truth be told, I started getting bored waiting for you to wake up," Layla teased.

"Mom!" Lucy whined, but still refusing to believe she actually managed to meditate for that long. '_It was probably only for a couple hours. Mom really likes to tease me.'_

"Don't worry. Times passes differently in this part of the spirit realm. Time passes twice as slow," Layla explained. '_You did well, my child. Now, time to test the results of your meditation.'_

Lucy sighed, thankful that she didn't "sleep" away almost 25 earthland years. She shuddered as she imagined what her friends would look like in 25 years. "Mom, why did you even make me meditate for so long anyways?" Lucy asked as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"It was necessary for you to clear your mind so we can move on to the next step," Layla replied.

Lucy only raised an eyebrow. "What's the next step?"

"Follow me," Layla said as she walked to the edge of the island, peering into the lake. Lucy just shrugged and followed her mom.

"Lucy, what do you know about the history of magic? Specifically celestial magic?" Layla asked.

Lucy shrugged. "Not much really. I tried searching it up a while ago so I asked for my friend's help. My friend's name is Levy. She's a total bookworm." Lucy smiled as she thought about her best friend. "She knows a lot about the history of magic, but even with her help, I found almost nothing about celestial magic."

Layla nodded in understanding. "Celestial magic is rather mysterious. It's very rare nowadays and the origins of celestial magic dates back to centuries ago. There is very little information about celestial magic that can be found in books. Lucy, I am going to teach you the basics of the history of celestial magic, but you need to discover the rest by yourself. It is very crucial to understand the origins of this magic in order for you to get stronger. There is so much more to celestial magic than just summoning spirits, you know that right?"

Lucy only nodded.

"First of all, there are two different types of celestial magic. The first, the more well known one, is a type of holder magic, where mages summon celestial spirits through keys." Layla gave a pointed look at Lucy's belt.

Lucy unconsciously hovered her right hand over where she usually placed her keys.

Layla continued her explanation. "The second type, is castor magic. Every so often, a celestial mage of extreme magical abilities has the power to manipulate and control the celestial forces. Castor magic includes spells, like Urano Metria."

Lucy's eyes widened. "So that means…"

Layla nodded. "You have been gifted with the power of celestial manipulation. And not just that."

Lucy tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Layla gazed into Lucy's brown, naive eyes. "I think you may have a rare ability known as Celestial fusion."

Lucy stayed silent, not knowing what her mother meant.

"Lucy," Layla paused. "No one, except the first ever celestial mage, has ever been able to obtain that ability. You are the first."

Lucy stared at her mother in awe. "You're kidding. What is celestial fusion? I've never even heard about it, let alone used it. How do you even know I have such an ability?" she asked incredulously.

"I am not mistaken, Lucy. Celestial fusion is when you are able to fuse with a celestial spirit. In other words, it's when you are able to utilize your spirits' powers," Layla said as she placed her hand on Lucy's head.

Lucy grimaced as images started flashing through her head.

* * *

_"Loke! No!" _

_"Lucy! I will protect you! It is my duty!" _

_"No! I'm not letting you do this." _

_"REGULUS IMPACT!"_

* * *

Lucy clutched her head as she fell to the ground. Her mother's hand was still placed on top of her head.

"Seems like I was not mistaken," Layla whispered as she knelt down to Lucy's height.

"Mom," Lucy trembled. "I-I...I don't understand."

Layla ran her hand soothingly through Lucy's hair. "Calm down, darling. Your spirits are fine, as are your keys." Layla paused. "In fact, you can find out for yourself now."

Lucy looked at her mom with wide eyes. "How?"

"As you figured out earlier, this is the celestial realm, just a deeper section. If my predictions about your power and bond with your spirits are correct, then you should be able to feel their presence. No, not just feel their presence, you may even be able to access their powers," Layla said as she stood up and gently lifted Lucy to her feet.

Layla lead Lucy to edge of the lake once more, their feet almost touching the water.

"You still have Aquarius's key, right? It was your first key, and the first I gave to you. I trust you didn't lose it?" Layla asked Lucy, while peering into the seemingly pitch black water.

"Of course I still have her key!" Lucy exclaimed almost indignantly. "She might threaten me with waves and tease me about never being able to get a boyfriend, but I know she cares for me deep inside and I care for her too. She's one of my closest and strongest spirits. I trust her with my life!" Lucy declared.

Layla smiled.

"Though she does scare me a little and can sometimes be a bitch," Lucy muttered under her breath.

Layla chuckled. "Good. That's all I needed to know," Layla said as she nodded. "Let's see just how deep that trust is."

Lucy looked at her mom confused. "Wha-"

"Good luck!" Layla interrupted.

Before Lucy could even comprehend what was going on, Layla had forcefully pushed Lucy into the depths of the water.

'_What the hell, mom!' _Lucy screamed into her mind as the water started to drag her towards the bottom of the lake.

Lucy struggled and thrashed about, trying to resurface. '_I'm going to drown again! Ugh!'_

"Lucy! Clear your mind and focus your power! Remember your meditation training. Don't fight the water, Lucy. Focus on your spirit, your friend, Aquarius."

Lucy heard her mother shout at her from above. She instantly relaxed her shoulders and stopped moving. The water continued to drag her down.

'_This is not the time to panic. Push your fear away,' _Lucy thought to herself. Once she felt her mind clear up, Lucy screamed in her mind, '_I summon thee, gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!'_

Lucy waited.

Nothing.

Panic bubbled up her throat as she felt her air reservoir thin out. '_I'm running out of air__!'_

* * *

On land, Layla Heartfilia had her head raised, staring into the heavens where all 88 constellations could be seen.

She scanned the skies until her eyes fell on to a certain constellation.

The constellation shined brighter and Layla felt her worries melt away as her lips curved upwards into a relieved smile.

_Aquarius…please protect my daughter._

* * *

Lucy felt her lungs burn, screaming for oxygen. She shut her eyes, trying to ignore the urge.

Lucy curled up into a fetal position. '_I can't give up. Please. Aquarius. I'm begging you.' _Lucy shut her eyes even tighter as tears threatened to spill. '_Aquarius. Please. You were always there for me, even as a child. You were my only friend, which is why I summoned you so much. I know you didn't like it and thought I was a bother, but you were the only one I could rely on back then. Aquarius...'_

Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She had no more air. The water continued to drag her down as she fought the urge to breathe.

_'This is it. I'm going to drown.'_

Lucy opened her mouth and inhaled.

Wait.

Lucy opened her eyes and blinked.

'_I can breathe! I can see! I'm not dead!'_

Lucy could have sworn she heard a scoff in her head.

'_Aquarius! Aquarius, is that you?' _she mentally exclaimed excitedly.

She heard another scoff. '_Who else would it be, you brat.'_

Hearing the familiar irritated voice of her favorite mermaid in her head, Lucy smiled. She didn't even care that Aquarius called her a brat.

'_Aquarius...thank you.'_

'_Tch. Whatever,' _came the usual apathetic reply.

Lucy looked around. The water had stopped being so heavy. In fact, she could move around freely now. She giggled as she maneuvered easily through the water.

'_I wonder what other powers I have from Aquarius,' _Lucy thought.

Surprisingly, Aquarius answered Lucy's question. '_I can't believe you managed to fuse with me without knowing anything, you idiot. I don't like this, but you have control of all of my powers. Basically, you're able to manipulate water to your will. You may have my powers, but it's all up to how strong your magic is. How you use my powers is up to your imagination.'_

Lucy was surprised. '_Wait, all of your powers? I have them all?!'_

Lucy could almost hear Aquarius rolling her eyes. '_You brat, are you deaf? Did you not hear what I just said? Yes, all of them.'_

'_Geez. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen to fuse with Aquarius first. So mean,' _Lucy mentally grumbled.

'_What did you say?' _Aquarius growled threateningly.

Lucy shivered. '_Eh hehe. Uh nothing?' _Lucy replied nervously.

Aquarius scoffed. '_That's what I thought.'_

Lucy mentally rolled her eyes as her spirit's behaviour before closing her eyes and concentrating on the feel of the water.

'_I need to get back up. Mom's probably waiting for me,' _Lucy thought as the water surrounding her started to spiral in a cyclone.

'_Wait. Your mom? Is Layla there? You already met your mom? That means you're...But the time isn't right yet!' _Lucy ignored the agitated Aquarius and concentrated even harder on the water. Soon, there was a mini water cyclone that propelled her up to the surface of the lake.

When she broke through the surface, she saw her mom staring at her in awe.

"Lucy…Hello Aquarius. Nice to see you again." Layla smiled as Lucy walked out of the lake.

'_Layla...' _Lucy heard the respect and slight hesitation in Aquarius's voice. It lacked the usual edge that Lucy is so used to hearing.

'_Damn, you're so much nicer to my mom,' _Lucy complained mentally.

Aquarius scoffed again. '_Layla was an excellent owner. She's so much more graceful than you, even when she was young. I never had to worry about her getting a boyfriend. You on the other hand...'_

Lucy growled slightly before catching sight of her clothing.

Lucy raised an eyebrow and glanced down. Her outfit had changed. She was wearing a green bikini top that sports a zigzag design and a green miniskirt. She could also see, at the bottom of her collarbone, a very familiar mark. It was the mark of the Water Bearer, Aquarius.

'_Wha-'_

'_It's called the star dress. It shows you have acquired the powers of a Zodiac key. The star dress is different for every Zodiac key.' _Aquarius explained in Lucy's mind.

Lucy nodded, forgetting that Aquarius wasn't actually there and twirled around, admiring the star dress.

She then turned towards the lake, deciding to test her powers out once more. She held both her hands out in front of her, attempting a move that she has seen Aquarius do countless of times.

She felt a new magic flowing through her body. Her magic and Aquarius's magic mixed as she focused the magic at the water.

"**Water Pillar**!" Lucy shouted. Not a second later, a giant pillar of water shot out of the lake. Lucy smiled as the water fell back into the lake.

"Impressive."

Lucy turned around and smiled. "Thanks mom." '_And thank you, Aquarius.'_

'_No problem, brat. I'm going to leave now,' _Aquarius grumbled, sounding rather grim to Lucy.

'_Okay. Can you tell everyone that I'm fine?' _Lucy requested, worrying how her spirits were holding up, especially Loke. She hadn't contacted them in a long time. Hopefully, they weren't too devastated.

'_Yeah, yeah.' _

Lucy felt the magic slowly leave her body and closed her eyes as her clothes and the mark shined brightly. When she opened them again, her clothes had returned back to normal and there was no mark on her collarbone.

"So you've managed to merge with Aquarius. How do you feel? Was it tiring?" Layla asked.

Lucy paused and thought for a bit. "No, I'm fine. It's actually a lot less tiring than I thought it would be. I still have a lot of magic left. Is it because I used Aquarius's magic as well?" Lucy asked.

Layla shook her head. "No. Even if you used her magic, celestial fusion is supposed to be very draining in magic power. All of celestial magic is very draining in power."

"Huh, I wonder why I'm not that tired then," Lucy shrugged. "Maybe I got stronger."

Layla smiled softly at her daughter. "Of course you had." Lucy tackled her mom into a tight hug.

"It's all thanks to you, mom, that I've gotten this strong," Lucy spoke against her mother's chest.

Layla just patted her daughter's head silently. '_There's still so much more for you to learn, child.'_

"Lucy, there's something I must tell you," Layla said.

"What is it, mama?" Lucy released her mother from the hug.

"The reason why you're here, and the reason why I'm here," Layla spoke without a hint of the usual lightness in her eyes and voice. Instead they were grave and serious.

Lucy remained silent, urging her mother to continue.

"Lucy, a new era is slowly approaching. The dark ones are slowly rising," Layla spoke quietly, almost whispering.

"Mom, what are you saying? What's going on?" Lucy asked confused.

"Lucy, you know of the 88 constellations. However, there used to be many more. They were banished from the skies when they had turned to dark side over 400 years ago, influenced by a dark wizard. They were subdued by a group of strong celestial mages working together but the Spirit King felt them stirring over the past decade. He was worried because there were less celestial mages and the dark spirits seemed to be getting stronger. He asked for my help through my spirits because I was a celestial mage."

Layla paused and gazed upwards into the starry skies.

"My spirits told me about a prophecy, how a child of light would save the world from darkness. And they told me that when the time came, I would have to teach and guide the child. I agreed to help the Spirit King and my spirits."

Lucy watched as tears welled up in her mother's eyes.

"In order to prepare me, the Spirit King had brought me to the spirit world, where I was to study celestial magic. However, you know that being in the spirit realm is detrimental to humans and technically against the contract. I was able to stay healthy," Layla paused, "until I met your father and had you."

Lucy felt her own tears well up in her eyes. She was the reason her mother fell ill.

"Don't blame yourself, darling. The illness was long overdue to be honest. I was expecting to fall ill sooner or later because of all the time I spent in the spirit realm. Your father was also quite upset about it and turned bitter. However, I had to keep my promise. I tried to raise you the best I could, but I soon became too weak. The Spirit King knew I was dying and proposed a dangerous solution."

Lucy inhaled sharply, fearing for what was coming.

"I was to become a celestial spirit."

Lucy broke down. She had caused this to happen. She had forced her own mother to suffer for an eternity, being separated her loved ones and her home. She felt so ashamed, she didn't even have the power to look her mom in the eyes.

"My child. It is not your fault. Lift your head high," Layla commanded softly.

Slowly, Lucy lifted her head and met her mother's soft and caring gaze. "Mom," her voice cracked. "Were you lonely all these years?"

A single tear slid down Layla's face and Lucy rushed to her mom's embrace once again.

"I'm so sorry. So sorry." Lucy sobbed.

"It's okay, darling. I wasn't too lonely. I had visitors now and then and I was allowed to travel between realms," Layla whispered into Lucy's hair.

"Visitors? What visitors? And what other realms are there?" Lucy asked after gathering herself back together.

Layla gave Lucy a small smile. "You'll find out soon enough on your journey, my child."

At this, Lucy raised an eyebrow, confused again. "Mom, you told how you came to be here but you never explained why I'm here."

"Silly child, I think you know why you're here," Layla responded with slight amusement.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "You don't mean…" But one look at her mom's face and Lucy knew her mom meant exactly that. "You mean...I'm the child of the prophecy."

Layla nodded. However, Lucy only scrunched up her eyebrows even more.

"Mom," she started cautiously. "Does the prophecy go something like this:

_In the darkest depths of the forgotten realm,_

_shines the dying light of the ageless one._

_The blood of the heavenly wolf shall merge with the stars,_

_and the cycle will break as darkness is overwhelmed."_

Layla stared at Lucy with wide eyes, like she's seen a ghost. "Lucy, darling, how do you know of the Great Prophecy?"

Lucy shrugged. "I...," Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "I have no idea."

Layla looked at Lucy. "That's...really weird Lucy," she commented.

"Mom! Don't just call your daughter weird!" Lucy exclaimed. "I honestly have no idea why I know it."

"Sure..." Layla eyed Lucy suspiciously. "Anyways," Layla continued, "I must inform you of what lies beyond. In order to fulfill your destiny, you must first do a few things."

Lucy nodded, indicating she was listening.

"First, you must collect all 13 Zodiac keys," Layla was about to continue but was interrupted by Lucy.

"13? So the legendary 13th key exists?" Lucy questioned.

Layla nodded. "Yes it does. You will also need to find as many silver keys as possible. You will need your friends on this journey." Layla gave Lucy a pointed look and Lucy could have sworn her mother was referring to more than just spirits when she said 'friends'.

"You will learn more about your destiny as you travel. That is all I can tell you for now. I will train you here for a couple more weeks before I send you back. Are you prepared to take on your destiny, Lucy Heartfilia?"

Lucy gulped. She nodded.

But inside, she was thinking, '_Nope, no I'm not. Not ready at all.'_

* * *

**_Author's Note_**

**I wonder if anyone can guess the name of the first ever celestial mage.**

**Anyways, what did you guys think? Next chapter will have more of earth land.**

**Okay, so I need some help.**

**Can you guys give me some powers for a paradise bird, a dove, a cup, a swan, and a giraffe?**

**I would be so grateful.**

**Replies:**

**IamInk: **what you see in this chapter are still just the basics of what celestial magic can do. Lucy will be so good at celestial fusion and manipulating anything celestial related that hopefully it'll blow your mind. :D

**12Rayne:** lol it was a bad decision. But it's okay. Everyone will reunite soon!

**Toto-chan:** aw thank you for your praise and review

**cliffhanger12:** updated! thank you for reviewing!

**Thank you to everyone who read! 'Til next time,**

**Sosh**

**Don't forget to review :D**

**p.s. spoiler alert**

**I recently found out how Lucy had to sacrifice Aquarius's key to summon the Spirit King and save her friends and I just want to say one thing:**

**WHY?! WHY AQUARIUS?! I cried so hard. I always felt Lucy and Aquarius were the closest, even closer than Loke and Lucy. sob I hope Lucy fixes her key or something. I hate this so much.**


	5. Strange Encounters

Layla eyed the panting blonde in pity.

"Um, should we take a break?" she asked lightly with a hint of a laugh.

"Yeah, *pant* need *pant* water," the sweating blonde croaked. Lucy laid on the ground, her chest heaving up and down.

Ever since Lucy could swim across the lake without drowning, Layla would make her swim across the lake and run laps through dark forest. Needless to say, with the feeling of being constantly watched in the pitch black darkness of the forest, Lucy always ran her fastest, leaving her in this pitiful state every time she was done.

Layla just sighed as she handed Lucy a bottle of water. "This might take longer than I thought. You excel at magic, but your physical fitness could use some work," she commented as she watched Lucy gulp down water greedily.

"I'm can't even feel my legs anymore," Lucy complained exasperatedly. "Are they even still attached to my body?" she asked as she moved her hands around, pretending to look for her numb legs.

Layla chuckled softly, shaking her head slowly at the silliness of her daughter. "Were you always this weak?"

"Don't tease me, mom," Lucy pouted. Layla merely raised an eyebrow at the display of cuteness. _I wonder how many boys she's used that on. That pout is definitely cheating. _

"Hey, mom," Lucy called, breaking Layla out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Layla responded.

"Why is it always night here?" Lucy asked.

Layla didn't respond right away. Instead, she gazed at the sky with fondness. Lucy knew from the look in her mom's eyes that she was in for another deep conversation and mentally sighed.

All this cryptic stuff gets annoying. However, the answer that came out her mom's mouth surprised her.

"It's so I can see the stars," Layla responded simply, her eyes never leaving the twinkling night sky.

Lucy raised her head so that the many constellations came into view. "That's it? " she asked. _I guess you really were lonely all these years, mom. These stars, the spirits...they mean a lot to you, huh?_

Layla closed her eyes. "Well, that's the gist of it,"

Lucy just groaned. "Don't tell me there's more to it," she whined.

Layla removed her gaze from the stars and glanced at Lucy. "Patience, my child. The answers will come, maybe. But before that," she gave Lucy a pointed glare. "Twenty more laps. Go!"

Lucy looked at her mother in utter disbelief. "You're kidding."

Layla shook her head. "I'm not. If you don't run, I'll send the wolves after you," Layla threatened.

Lucy's eyes widened. "So there are wolves!" she exclaimed.

Layla just grinned. "I would start running soon, Lucy."

Lucy gave her mom one more glare before wobbling towards the lake with a slight huff. "Moms," she muttered under her breath with a slight roll of the eyes.

She then focused her eyes on the lake in front of her before closing them.

_Aquarius, please._

Then, without opening her eyes, she jumped into the lake. Lucy smiled as she felt the familiar rush of coolness that hit her every time she entered the lake.

Lucy had gotten better at fusing with her spirits, a lot better. Her mom was shocked to see her master the skill so quickly and Lucy was quite proud to impress her mom.

Because of her training, Lucy could fuse with a spirit almost instantly. Maybe a few more days and she'll start trying to fuse with two or more spirits at once. _Ugh, imagine hearing both Aquarius and Scorpio in my head. Ew no thanks. _

* * *

Erza surveyed the carnage from the battle. The town was not spared from the battle and sustained quite a large amount of damage. Erza winced. Master would not be happy to hear about this.

"So...mission success?" Gray asked.

Erza nodded hesitantly. The reinforcements did not put up much of a fight compared to the guild alliance. It was almost sad how one-sided the fight was.

"The original mission was to destroy Death Eaters, but it was already destroyed by…" Erza faltered. "Anyways, the job was done, so mission accomplished," Erza said but she sounded unsure.

Nonetheless, there really was nothing else they could do. There was no trace of the Death Eaters nor of Lucy. It was a complete dead end.

Erza sighed.

"There's no sign of Luce..." Natsu murmured as he stood gazing at the ground. Everyone looked down. They had won the battle, but they had lost a friend, a family member.

Yet, there was nothing they could do. A moment of tense silence hung throughout the air.

Erza steeled herself. Now was not a good time to let morales get even lower. They had to be strong, for Lucy's sake. Sometimes, she hates that fact that she has to act so strong all the time, but there was no helping it. At times like these, someone has to step up to keep everyone together. They cannot fall apart, not now.

"Let us head back. The mission is done. Thank you, Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale for your assistance," Erza hid her own sorrow and worry behind her knightly voice.

The members of Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale just looked at Erza with solemn eyes.

"It was our pleasure to work with everyone once again. Fairy Tail, you must not give up. We, Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus will do our best to report anything we find out about Lucy. We will help you find her.," Jura declared.

Erza looked at Jura with grateful eyes as she watched the light return to her family's eyes. Jura nodded in response, and the members of Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale slowly looked at each other and smiled before facing Fairy Tail.

"That's right. You can count on us, Gray,' Lyon said.

"Don't worry, Wendy. We'll help you find your friend," Cheria comforted her young friend.

"We will never allow a beautiful lady like Lucy suffer alone. We will save our princess," Eve, Ren, and Hibiki declared.

"Men!" Ichiya responded.

Natsu, Lisanna, Gray, and Wendy rubbed the tears from their eyes.

"You're right, guys. Thank you, everyone. We will get Lucy back!" Natsu declared with his signature smile as he lit his fist on fire. "It's a promise," he declared.

Erza smiled, relieved everyone had come back to their senses. But, something still nagged at the back of her mind.

'_I can't help but feel like something is about to happen,'_ Erza thought. '_Lucy, wherever you are, I hope you're safe._

* * *

"Done!" Lucy shouted as she pumped her fist into the air tiredly before faceplanting onto the ground, too tired to even groan in pain.

For the past two weeks, her mother pushed her harder and harder to improve her physical abilities. She remembers running through the forest blindfolded(not that the blindfold made any difference because it was so dark anyways), squat jumping with a tree tied to her waist, and even fighting hand to hand combat against her mom.

And as much as she didn't want to admit it out loud, Lucy knew her mom was the better fighter between the two of them. _Seriously, where did she learn to fight like that? This is just sad, being beaten by my own mom. _

Lucy turned her head when she heard a yawn.

"Oh, you're done. Thank goodness. I was getting so tired waiting for you. You took forever," Layla commented calmly as she elegantly rubbed away the sleepiness in her eyes.

Lucy's jaw dropped. "I only took twenty minutes!" she exclaimed.

Layla chuckled. "Calm down, darling. I'm just teasing." But Lucy was not amused.

"Anyways, congratulations. You've finished your training for now. You're ready to leave," Layla announced.

Lucy froze. All of a sudden, Lucy felt...conflicted. Before, she had been very eager to leave. She hated the scary invisible wolves and missed her home badly. But now that it was actually time to leave, Lucy was reluctant to go. She didn't want to leave her mom again, not after she just found her after thinking she had been dead for so many years.

No, she was not going to leave her mom again, especially not alone here. Sure the stars are nice to gaze at, but they are not enough to dispel her mom's loneliness.

Stars are not meant to be gazed at alone. They are up there for the entire world to see.

"Lucy," Layla called, snapping Lucy out of her reverie. Lucy looked at her mom.

"Lucy, don't be afraid my child. I promise I will always be with you, but your time has come," Layla smiled at her daughter through tears.

Lucy felt a warm feeling rush up to her chest as her own tears welled up in her eyes and immediately rushed to her mother's arms.

"Mom," she sobbed.

"I know, darling, I know. But you must be strong," Layla said as she ran her hand through Lucy's hair. "Plus, I promised I will always be with you, didn't I? And you should know that a Celestial mage always keeps her promises."

Lucy looked up at her mom and held out her pinky. "You promise?"

"I promise," Layla nodded and connected their pinkies, slightly laughing at the childish act. "I can't believe you still do this. What are you? Seven?" Layla teased, hoping to get Lucy to smile. It worked.

Lucy immediately stopped crying and glared at her mom. "No! It's just, the last time you promised me you would be there...you weren't." Her eyes casted downwards as tears built up once again.

Layla sighed and lifted Lucy's chin so they were looking directly into each other's eyes. "I did promise you and I will keep the promise, Lucy. I have not broken that promise. You may not have noticed it, but I was always with you, darling. Always."

Lucy held the gaze for another moment before nodding and burying her head into her mother's chest. "I know, mom, I know. I will be strong, and I will make you proud."

She lifted her head. "I'm ready," Lucy said in a brave voice. Layla smiled and nodded.

"Good. I don't know where you will end up teleporting to, but there will probably be a key nearby. Search for it," Layla said, as Lucy started to glow a soft golden color. "And on your journey, you will meet friends who will help you in your mission."

The glow surrounding Lucy intensified. She started to hover.

Lucy raised an eyebrow slightly, questions popping in her head at her mother's words, but she kept silent as Layla continued.

"That is the first step. I wish you luck, my child." Layla smiled softly.

Lucy returned the bright smile. "I will see you soon, mom," Lucy replied softly, tears running down her cheeks.

Layla nodded. Lucy began to shine brightly, but Layla did not revert her eyes.

"Oh and Lucy," Layla called. Lucy looked at her mom in curiousity.

"Don't forget to write me letters every so often."

Lucy's eyes widened slightly, before breaking out into a bigger grin, the tears flowing in endless streams. The light suddenly exploded in brightness and Lucy was gone.

_Mom. You really have been watching me this whole time after all._

* * *

Lucy shook her head slightly, trying to rid the dizziness. Once she was stable, she stood up.

She looked around and all she saw was miles and miles of sand stretched out in front of her. _Just great. I'm stuck in the middle of desert and I don't have any water on me either. Well this sucks. Hm, maybe I can fuse with Aquarius and drink the water from her-nevermind. That's probably not a good idea. _Lucy sighed. This "journey" of hers was not starting out very easily.

Not knowing which way to go, Lucy just settled for walking straight. As she walked, her hands, drifted to her belt where she usually kept her keys.

A slight smile shone on her face as she felt the familiar hum of the keys on her hip and the handle of her favorite whip. She had missed the feeling of grappling a key.

She looked down fondly, only to realize something was different.

There was a new key.

She furrowed her eyebrows. The new key wasn't silver, nor was it gold like the Zodiac keys. It was clear and seemed to be made out of crystal. Raising an eyebrow, Lucy decided she would ask Crux about it and then contact the spirit. But first, she must find civilization. _I am not going to get lost forever in the desert. That is not the way I want to go._

Quickly, she hurried along the way. _Man, sand is so hard to walk through. And it's so hot! I think I'm going to melt._

Lucy hadn't gone too far, though it felt like miles, when she saw giant sand lizards attacking an old man. The old man was completely surrounded.

_Oh no you don't, you overgrown lizards. _

Lucy whipped out a key and smirked as she held it in air. _Man, I haven't done this in so long._

"Open gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!" she shouted confidently as she twisted the key.

There was a sudden burst of light and the familiar sound of a door bell.

"We are!" a raspy voice cheered.

"Scorpio!" Lucy called.

"Lucy." Scorpio smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"Same here, Scorpio. Now let's save that poor old man and take down these monsters," she said excitedly. Scorpio nodded with a smirk on his face.

"Old man! Watch out!" Lucy shouted. "Go Scorpio!"

"**Sand Buster**!" Scorpio shouted and shot a giant sand tornado from his stinger that blew away the lizards from the old man. Lucy ran up to old man.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. The old man turned around and smiled at Lucy.

"Quite alright, thank you," he smiled.

"A TREE?!" Lucy exclaimed, surprised that the "old man" had a tree top as a head.

"How did you know?" the old man feigned surprise. Lucy felt her eyebrow twitch.

"Just kidding! I'm actually a mage," he joked and then laughed out loud, clutching his stomach.

Lucy stared un-amusedly at the tree man.. _Am I cursed to meet weirdos my entire life? _Shaking her head, she refocused on the situation at hand.

The lizards were advancing once again. She stood protectively in front of old man.

"Alright, time to kick butt," she stated confidently.

"Be careful. Those lizards are quite fast and their saliva is poisonous," the old man warned behind her.

Lucy glanced back and smirked. "Don't worry. I'm a Fairy Tail wizard."

The man seemed surprised and raised both eyebrows at her statement.

Lucy faced the lizards again. "Alright, Scorpio, no more holding back now, alright? Go!"

Scorpio and Lucy charged side by side.

"Celestial fuse! Gate of the Scorpion!" Lucy shouted. She and Scorpio stopped in front of the lizards and held hands. _Man, I hope Aquarius doesn't kill me for this._

"**Unison Raid: Twin Devil Sand Buster!**" The wind began gathering around two, swirling the sand around them in a giant cyclone.

The old man had staggered a bit, surprised at the sudden power from the young girl standing in front of him.

"Go!' Lucy shouted as she released the attack on the lizards. A huge gust of wind burst from their joined hands and two sand tornadoes hit the sand lizards head on, blowing them into the sky and out of sight.

"We are!" Scorpio shouted when he saw the enemies were gone. He stuck his hand out in the rocker pose and smiled at Lucy, who smiled back.

"Thank you, Scorpio. Also, tell everyone I said hi," she said as she closed his gate.

Scorpio nodded. "See ya later Lucy!" he shouted one more time before disappearing in a flash of gold.

Lucy turned around to see the old man staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

The 'tree' just shook his head. "Nothing." _That was quite impressive. I've never heard of a Celestial mage who could do that. She is quite the wizard._

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia of…" she faltered.

"Of Fairy Tail, right?" he asked.

Lucy looked at him, surprised. "How did you know?" she asked as her eyes subconciously darted to the back of her right hand, which was still covered by the black fingerless glove.

The old tree man raised an eyebrow. "You said so yourself before you ran into battle. Do you not remember?"

Lucy was taken aback. It just slipped out of her mouth. She knew she was no longer officially part of Fairy Tail, but it would always be a part of her. Fairy Tail will always be her home.

Lucy chuckled nervously. "Did I? My bad." She rubbed that back of her head sheepishly. "Hey, old man, what are you doing in the middle of the desert anyways?"

The old man just smiled. "Enjoying the plant life here," he said seriously. Lucy raised an eyebrow, internally debating whether the old man was senile or crazy. Probably both.

"Just kidding!" he teased and laughed. Lucy just sighed tiredly.

"I'm actually here for another reason. But don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. Now what is a girl like you doing in the middle of the desert?" he asked.

"Uh…" Lucy was at a loss for words. She couldn't tell the man she had just teleported here from the Celestial Realm. "I got lost. Do you know where the nearest town is?"

The man nodded. "Crocus. It's twenty miles north of here."

Lucy's jaw dropped in exasperation. _That's so far away! _She sighed. She had better get going if she didn't want to stay in the desert under scorching sun. "So you're sure you'll be fine by yourself, old man?" she asked.

He just laughed. "I may look old, but I am a capable wizard too," he said.

"Oh." Lucy was taken back. "Well, I'll be going then," she said.

The old man just nodded. "Take care."

Lucy waved goodbye and started heading north.

_Fairy Tail eh? I see the new generation has quite the potential. Lucy Heartfilia….may we meet again. _

* * *

By the time Lucy caught sight of Crocus, it was already the next day. She had walked out of the desert yesterday evening and was welcomed by lush plant life. She had camped in the forest overnight. _At least I didn't have to stare at the sand. I thought I was going to go crazy. _

She tiredly trudged into town. She hadn't eaten or drank anything in over a day and was dying. Not to mention she had sand in places where sand should never be. _A nice warm bath sounds really nice right now. _

Crocus was a busy town. Everyone was bustling about. She walked into the marketplace and spotted a magic shop.

_I wonder if they have any keys in stock. I should check it out. But first...food!_ Lucy spotted a quaint little cafe and was about to walk in when someone bumped into her, causing her to fall on her butt.

"Ow," Lucy whined as she rubbed her butt. Then, she realized her keys were gone.

Her head whipped up, searching for the perpetrator.

"Hey! Give me my keys back!" she shouted as she gave chase. "Thief!" she followed the hooded thief through the city, turning sharp corners and trying to avoid bumping into people.

Lucy pulled out her whip and managed to catch the thief on the foot, tripping her.

"Finally," Lucy huffed as she planted slightly. "Now give me back my keys," she demanded.

The thief turned around to face Lucy. The hood had fallen off the thief's head. The thief was a woman older than Lucy and had long green hair and bright red lips.

Lucy gasped. She recognised the woman standing before her.

"No way," she breathed out.

"Karen Lilica..."

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Sorry for not updating in a while. Was caught up with some stuff. This was just a short update in order to prepare for next chapter. :D **

**Reader Replies:**

**IamInk: **Those are some nice ideas! I might take a few! Thanks for reading and helping me out buddy! :D

**The King of Dragons:**

lol wonder what that crystal key is? is it layla's key or someone else's key? hmmm is Layla the heavenly wolf though? secret ;P

**Rin123:**

LucyHarem=yes! haha thanks for being an awesome fan! Sorry I took so long to update .

**machomatthew29350**:

Thank you thank you thank you! Hope you continue to like the story! :D

**12Rayne:**

lol 99 days may have been too much

I just chose a random number.

I haven't been keeping up with FT at all lately. Aquarius better come back though.

**jfkkennedy:**

Thank you! hope you continue reading!

**ky:**

oh wait, is the first celestial mage Celest? huh I didn't know that. I'll look into that. Thanks for telling me and thanks for reading!

**Sosh**


	6. Old Enemies, New Friends

**_AN:_**

**_woah updated twice in two days? on a roll._**

**_Enjoy! Review please!_**

* * *

_Previously..._

_Lucy gasped. She recognised the woman standing before her._

_"No way," she breathed out. "Karen Lilica..."_

* * *

"But…you're supposed to be dead," Lucy whispered, as she stared wide eyed at the supposedly dead woman handle her keys fondly.

Karen smirked.

"Hello, Lucy Heartfilia. I see you have both Leo and Aries in your possession," Karen almost purred as she caressed her old keys.

Lucy growled. "What are you doing?"

Karen laughed haughtily. "Calm your tits, honey. I mean no harm. Obviously, I'm not dead," she said as she eyed Lucy up and down, making Lucy shiver.

"What do you want?" Lucy demanded, hand still on her whip.

Karen studied Lucy carefully. "What would you do to get your keys back? They are impressive, but they're still just tools. What are you willing to give up in exchange?" she asked.

Lucy clenched her fist in anger. "They are not tools! They are my friends! And I will do anything to get them back. You don't deserve to touch them. You are a disgrace for a celestial wizard!" she shouted. She didn't catch Karen's slight twitch.

"Anything?" Karen questioned. "Even your life?" she threatened.

"Of course!" Lucy shouted, outraged at Karen's behaviour. "My friends are my family. My life is insignificant if I can save my friends."

"What? So you swear upon your life that you'll give up your own safety for theirs?" threatened Karen.

"Of course! And as a Celestial Wizard, I keep my promises!" shouted Lucy.

Karen sighed. Her face suddenly softened, which caught Lucy off guard. " I believe you. Your words are sincere, Lucy Heartfilia. Look, I meant it when I say I mean no harm."

Lucy raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Then why'd you steal my keys?" she asked, anger evident in her voice.

Karen looked Lucy in the eye and Lucy was surprised at the regret that played in Karen's eyes. "Catch," Karen said as she threw the keys back to Lucy, who caught them. Lucy stared at Karen suspiciously.

"I can tell you treat them well, Loke, and Aries. I can practically feel their happiness and devotion for you radiating from their keys," Karen said quietly. Her voice was void of the previous aggressiveness. Instead, it almost sounded sad.

"Thanks… I guess," Lucy responded as she brought her keys closer to her chest and eyed Karen suspiciously.

"I'm sorry about that, but I had to do it," Karen apologized. She held her hands out in gesture of surrender.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked as she slowly relaxed her body.

"It was...a test," Karen said gingerly.

"Huh?" Lucy was confused.

"Just come with me," Karen spoke impatiently, as she grabbed the blonde's hand and dragged her out of the town into the forest.

"Hey wait!" Lucy protested. She still didn't trust Karen completely. _I thought she was dead! What the heck is going on?!_

They walked through the forest until they came across a clearing. A giant stone was placed in the middle.

"Uh...what's going on?" Lucy asked, still clutching her keys tightly in her hand.

"You'll see," Karen muttered as she examined the stone.

"I am connected to the Realm of the Celestial World. Hear me now! Open!" Karen chanted with one hand placed on the rock. The rock began to shake and glow. Then, it slowly slid to the right, revealing a tunnel into the earth.

"You first," Karen gestured Lucy towards the hole that was well over a couple hundred feet deep.

"You want me to climb down that?" she asked incredulously.

"Just go," Karen replied irritated, and crossed her hands, glaring at the reluctant blonde.

Lucy gulped and slowly made her way down the ladder. Karen followed soon after and the rock slid back in place, blocking the light.

"Yah! I can't see!" Lucy screamed.

"Shut it, blonde brat!" Karen shouted from above.

Lucy grumbled to herself. "What a meanie. I can't believe Loke and Aries had to deal with her."

They eventually reached the end of the tunnel which ended at a big room. The walls were enchanted so they looked like the night sky with all of its constellations.

"Wow…." Lucy marveled.

"Keep walking. This way," Karen said. Lucy followed her to a long table, which was occupied by two other girls.

"I brought her here," Karen announced.

Lucy glanced at the person sitting at the table. Her eyes widened at the familiar silhouette.

"You!" she shouted, pointing at a girl with long white hair.

The girl just smiled vainly and flipped her hair. "My, my. We meet again, Lucy Heartfilia."

"ANGEL?! What are you doing here?!" Lucy screamed. She then turned and pointed at Karen. "And you! I thought Angel was the one who killed you! What the heck is going on?"

Karen sighed. "Calm your tits, honey. Geez, we'll explain it later, alright. Now sit." She forced Lucy down into a chair.

"After you guys defeated Oracion Seis, I wandered around until I found my sister. She helped me see the good in the world again. She's the real angel between the two of us," Angel muttered.

"As for Karen, during our battle, she tried summoning two spirits at once and completely depleted her magical reserves. She should have died, but she was enveloped in a bright light and just disappeared without a trace. The only thing left of her were her keys, which I took, and now you have," explained Angel.

"A bright light...that explains nothing." Lucy looked over to Karen for clarification, but Karen only shrugged.

"I remember feeling all of my magic leave my body at once and my body turned cold. I thought, no, I knew I was going to die. But then, warmth filled me and I blacked out, so to speak. When I woke up, I was in a hospital. The doctors told me I had just shown up, in a coma, in the middle of the desert two weeks ago. I don't know exactly what happened," Karen said. "But I do vaguely remember a voice telling me to come here, and that I would get a second chance at life."

"A voice?" asked Lucy. "Did you recognize the voice?"

Karen shrugged. "Dunno. It sounded like a woman though."

"A week ago, I had a dream telling me to come here and that I would meet an old enemy. The voice was also a woman's. I was definitely surprised when I ran into this bitch again," Angel commented.

"Hey! If you really want to be an angel that bad, I'll be happy to help you with that right now, though I can't guarantee you'll go up," retorted Karen.

Angel ignored the remark and continued. "We both decided to let the past be the past. It wasn't easy at first," Angel glared at Karen. "But we've both changed for the better and admit our wrongdoing about how we treated our spirits. This is our second chance," Angel explained. Karen nodded in agreement.

Lucy nodded slowly, still trying to process everything. _What, so n__ow they're BFF's?_

"And also, I would like to apologize," Angel said. "Thank you for teaching me what it means to be a real Celestial wizard."

Both of Lucy's eyes widened as she waved her hands frantically in front of her face. "It's okay, really. I forgive you. I'm glad you learned that spirits are friends, not tools." Lucy smiled at Angel, who turned her head to avoid Lucy's dazzling smile.

"Anyways, you mentioned that a voice told you to come here? Um, where is here exactly and why?" Lucy asked.

"We're getting there, blondie," Karen sighed exasperatedly at Lucy's constant questioning. "Last week, Angel and I had a similar dream. In the dream, a Celestial Spirit told us to find this place and that a mission lay ahead of us. We were told the Celestial Realm was in danger and that we, as Celestial Mages, were needed. We came because we had changed and finally learned to cherish our spirits. Before the dream ended, we were also told to find the the 'Guardian of the Celestial Keys who shines the brightest among the stars'. Angel and I agreed it was you, Lucy Heartfilia," Karen explained.

"Yes, yes. You do shine exceptionally bright, Heartfilia," mumbled Angel.

"And Please don't ask me who the Celestial Spirit was, because hell if I know. She never showed us her face," Karen added.

"Okay...But what is this place and why do you need me?" Lucy asked.

"Well, in the dream, the Celestial Spirit told us about about the ancient war of the evil spirits and the Celestial Wizards that happened 400 years ago. We were told that the evil spirits have been on the rise in the recent years and that we, the wizards, needed to team up and stop the evil spirits," Karen explained.

"Yeah. When the evil spirits first rebelled, the Celestial Wizards created the STAR Alliance, which was an alliance of all of the living Celestial Wizards. This is the second time the STAR Alliance has come together. The strongest Celestial Mage is declared the Guardian of the Stars, and is destined to deliver the finishing blow to the evil spirit king. Apparently, this place used to be the STAR Alliance headquarters 400 years ago," Angel finished the explanation.

"So...you're saying…" Lucy felt more dumbfounded than confused at this point.

"Welcome, Lucy Heartfilia, to the STAR Alliance," Angel announced. "You are our Guardian."

* * *

"How was the mission? Anything on Lucy?" Mira asked as Team Natsu entered the guild and walked up to the bar. All of the ears in the guild was tuned in to this conversation.

No one said a word. Mirajane started to worry. "Did something happen? Is Lucy-" Mira couldn't finish her sentence. Silence hung in the air.

"When we got there...the guild was already gone," Wendy broke the silence. "Apparently... apparently..."

"Apparently what?" Mira asked in a quiet, shaky voice.

"Apparently, Lucy went back and..." Wendy faltered again.

"No...she did not," Mirajane gasped. Wendy only nodded. Mirajane chuckled slightly in exasperation. "That idiot," she commented, and started to weep quietly.

Team Natsu nodded in agreement.

"But we can't give up! Lucy's still out there! I know it!" Natsu asserted. "I am not going to give up on my family. She is a Fairy Tail wizard and she has been through a lot despite being a new wizard. I felt so bad that she got hurt on every mission because of me, so I tried pushing her away to protect her. I was an idiot," Natsu hung his head.

Gray patted the pink-head's shoulder. They were all idiots.

"I couldn't see that she was strong, stronger than me even. She's been through so much, suffered through so much, and yet she still can smile," Natsu said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. There were different types of strength. And Lucy, she had the strength of hope. She was the shining light, the light of Fairy Tail.

"We need to search for her," Natsu declared.

Gray sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but for once, I agree with flame head on this one."

Erza nodded and turned to face Master, who was sitting cross legged on the bar and had his eyes closed in deep thought.

"It's going to be difficult, my children," Makarov spoke. "I can assure you, that Lucy is safe for now. How or why I know, I cannot tell you yet. She is going to embark on a very difficult journey, and she is going to need your help to do it."

"We'll do anything for our family!" Natsu cried out.

"Yeah!" Several agreements came from throughout the guild.

Master nodded. "I know. But as I said, it is a very dangerous journey, and you all will have to prepare your very best for it. Which is why...Natsu, Gray, Levy, Cana, Mest, Elfman, and Lisanna."

The people who were called, stepped forward.

"You will be participating in the S-Class trials. Find a partner. We leave in a week."

* * *

"So..." Lucy stared at the other two occupants of the table awkwardly. "What do we do now?"

"We have three missions. First, we have to recruit as many Celestial Wizards as we can," explained Karen. "This is going to be hard because Celestial magic is very rare these days. As of right now, there are only four members of the STAR Alliance. The previous alliance had twelve."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Four members? 1...2...3. Um I only count three members." Angel sighed.

"Remember when I mentioned my sister? She is also a Celestial Mage. But she's too young right now. Give her a few years and she should be old enough then," replied Angel.

"A few years?" questioned Lucy. "Do we have that long?"

Karen shrugged. "The evil spirits are stirring but, we don't know how long it could take for them to fully awaken. Last time, they took seven years to fully rise to power. The evil spirits have already been on the rise for quite some time so we are really short on time. My guess is a few years."

"Okay... What's the second mission then?" asked Lucy.

"That's to find and collect all of the existing constellations, all 88 of them." replied Karen.

Lucy's eyes widened. "All 88? In only a few years? That's...that's impossible."

"No, it's not," said Karen. "The previous Guardian did it, and so will you."

"Ugh..." Lucy groaned. The keys could be anywhere in the world. She's going to need several lifetimes in order to accomplish this feat. _The previous Guardian must have been a mother freaking beast!_

"Do I even wanna know what the third mission is?" Lucy complained.

Angel shook her head and smiled sadistically. "Nope."

"Apparently, there are more keys than just the silver and gold ones that we're used to. I don't know what type of keys they're going to be, nor how many, but your job is to get them all," answered Karen.

Lucy whined and faceplanted into her arms. "Whyyy? That's so freaking vague! How the heck am I supposed to-Wait!" Her head snapped up.

Karen and Angel stared at the blonde with curiosity.

"Is this key one of them?" Lucy held up the new crystal key she found on her belt when she woke up in the desert. Karen and Angel both had their jaws wide open.

"Where on earth did you find it!?" they demanded.

Lucy shrugged sheepishly. "Well..." She explained the whole story to the two Celestial Mages and how she met her mother and trained with her in the Spirit Realm.

"Yeah, so when I woke up, I found this on my belt," Lucy finished.

"Well, have you tried summoning it?" Angel asked Lucy, to which she shook her head in response.

"Then hurry up and try it!" demanded Karen.

"Geez! Okay!" replied Lucy. She clutched the crystal key to her chest. It felt...different than her other keys. She couldn't feel the spirit inside.

She held the key out in front of her. "I am connected to the Realm of the Celestial World. Hear me now! Open! Gate of the..wait." Lucy brought her arm down. "I don't know what to say."

Karen sighed while Angel facepalmed. "What do we do with the key then?" Angel asked Karen, who shrugged.

"Keep it for now, I guess. We can't do anything until we know more about this," Karen replied.

"Right. So, Heartfilia, you up for some key hunting?" asked Angel. Lucy groaned.

"Nooooo. I wanna take a bath first. I still have sand in places I don't want sand to ever be in," Lucy complained.

"Ugh, fine. There are showers and bedrooms here. It's basically like a mansion, except underground. Hurry up. Once you're done, we have to hit the library," Angel said.

"The library? Why?" Lucy asked.

"We're supposed to research as much as we can about the history of Celestial Magic and its origins, so that when the time comes, we are fully prepared for battle. Don't you wanna know how the previous Guardian defeated the evil spirits or who the previous Guardian was?" replied Angel.

"Oh. That's smart," commented Lucy absentmindedly. Angel just snorted in response and muttered something that sounded like _'blondes'_ under her breath.

"So which library are we going to? I know there's one in-" Lucy was cut off by Karen.

"You won't find anything there. You won't find anything anywhere on Earthland. Records of Celestial Magic are rare, and the ones on Earthland are insubstantial. There's a reason for that," said Karen.

"What's the reason?" asked Lucy.

"They're all stored in one place," replied Karen as she looked over at Lucy and smirked. "A place where only Celestial Wizards can access."

Lucy stared back at Karen. "You don't mean..."

Karen nodded. "Oh girl, yes I do."

"The Celestial Realm!"

"The STAR Alliance Headquarters!" they screamed at the same time, then looked at each other.

Angel burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh, you guys are dweebs." She stopped, once she received a glare from both Celestial Mages.

"Sorry, sorry. But Heartfilia, you're wrong. The library is actually here. We'll show you after your shower alright? And we might want to work on teamwork too. Obviously, Blondie here and Grass-head aren't on the same page yet," wheezed out Angel.

Lucy just glared one last time at the two before stomping out of the room into a corridor.

"Do you think she knows where she's going?" Karen asked.

"Nope!" replied Angel cheerfully.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Sorry for the mind f**k last chapter! **this chapter was mostly explanations

Yeah I don't whats up with the number 7...but whatevs.

hopefully no one's too confused? more things will be explained later i.e. Karen's "death"

I have so much planned, don't know how im gonna fit it all in

its all going to be very exciting

lots of action next chapter, I think :P

**Are Karen and Angel in character? idk they have similar personalities to me.**

**Karen might be more motherly though? while Angel is more sisterly? but its all tough love? idk help lol**

**Karen is going to be more like Aquarius? like a tough mom? idk **

lol I wanna see who reads up to here, so:

submit a review with a quote(any quote) and tell me which character you want to say that quote and I'll try to fit it in my story somehow. lol this just sounds like a fun idea.

Replies:

** Ms. Cookie Smugler:**

lol the chapter originally didn't end like that. Chapter 5 and 6 used to be one big chapter but I broke it up. Haha glad the plot twist surprised you.

**The King Of Dragons :**

I still haven't touched too much on the keys yet, but yes there are special keys. :D

**Luna-blackrose** :

Hopefully I cleared up your confusion a bit? In the anime, Karen kinda disappears in a flash of light, no? Well, I wonder what that flash of light means...keke

**IamInk**:

Lol glad you caught that! though it was pretty obvious haha. idk why I put him in there. :P just felt like it. He is super awesome haha

Karen is Back! and so is Angel! omg dream team here or are they going to crash and burn?

**jfkkennedy** :

aw thank you my dear reader! thanks for reading and reviewing again. even if its a simple review, it makes my day that much brighter (and makes me wanna write that much more lol)

**taboadayvonne** :

hiii! long time no...see? lol glad you've continued to read and review! ur the best! :D

**Comments, Questions, and Suggestions all welcome. Yeah...please review. Leave me ur thoughts on where you want this to go, what you like/don't like...etc**

**Sosh **


	7. Fallen

Lucy followed Karen and Angel down the narrow winding staircase.

"Uh how deep does this underground cave go?" she asked hesitantly.

"Dunno. Just don't get lost down here. Who knows if we'll ever find you," Karen answered without glancing back at the panicking blonde.

Before the blonde could go into a claustrophobic panic attack, the stairs ended and the room widened up.

"Here we are," Angel murmured as she walked up to the tiny, old wooden doors. "Only the Guardian can open it. So go ahead." Angel gestured for Lucy to put her palm against the doors.

Lucy walked up and did as Angel instructed. "Now what?" she asked.

Karen rolled her eyes. "Remember the chant I used to open the door to the STAR Alliance? Just say the same one."

"Oh." Lucy looked at her hand unsurely. "I am connected to the Realm of the Celestial World. Hear me now. Open!" she commanded.

The tiny doors opened to reveal a giant room.

"Woah," Lucy felt her breath leave her as she stared in awe at the massive library. "There's like thousands of books in here!" she marveled.

"All on Celestial magic and the Celestial Realm," Angel told Lucy. "Now stop staring with your mouth wide open and go in already."

Lucy hesitated. Where in the world was she supposed to start? How is the library even organized? Suddenly, she got an idea. Grabbing her keys, she held them in front of her and smirked.

_I guess this also counts as training._

"Loke! Aries! Gemi! Virgo! Open!" Lucy grunted out as she felt her magic levels drop instantly. She missed the incredulous looks on Angel's and Karen's faces.

_Steady. Breathe in, breathe out. I can't let the training go to waste. Control it Lucy! You can do this. Four spirits at once is no biggie._

Lucy regained her calmness as the magic levels inside her evened out. She then looked up and smiled at her friends.

"I missed you guys." Her smile lit up her entire face. Immediately, the four Celestial spirits rushed to her and engulfed her.

"Gah!" she grunted.

"Never do something so reckless again," Leo chided the blonde, referring to her fight against the dark guild. "I thought you...I thought I...You almost..."

"You had us all very worried, Princess" Virgo spoke up seeing her brother could not continue his sentence.

"Gemi. Mini," Gemini chirped in agreement.

Lucy just smiled and pulled them close one more time.

"I'm sorry. I missed you, Lucy-sama," Aries whispered meekly, her cheeks pinker than usual as she stared at the ground.

Lucy patted her head fondly. "I missed you too. Now," she looked up. "Let's get down to business. I need your help. Let's get searching," she exclaimed happily.

"You can count on us, Lucy!"

"Of course, Princess."

However, when Lucy and her spirits turned around, time seemed to freeze.

_Shit. How could I forget._

Lucy wanted to hit herself for her forgetfulness. She watched nervously as Karen and Leo stared at each other while Angel had her own staredown with Gemini and Scorpio. Aries seemed to quiver at the sight of both of her previous owners.

No one made a move, except for Aries and her occasional shivers.

"I'm sorry," Angel and Karen both apologized as they bowed their heads in shame.

Silence hung in the air.

Karen and Angel, with their heads still bowed, shut their eyes in anticipation. What else was there to say? It was all their fault and they realized it. Nothing they could say could lessen their guilt nor their sins. Would they... could they be forgiven?

But they didn't have to say anything else. Loke glanced at Aries, Scorpio, and Gemini before nodding.

"We forgive you," he said. "We have heard of how you atoned for your past deeds." He smiled. "Plus, something tells us your current spirits are pretty happy," he said as he glanced at the their respective key rings.

Lucy gasped realizing she completely missed the key holders on the two woman in front of her. "Who do you guys have? Can I see?" she jumped excitedly.

Karen glanced at Angel before throwing the blonde a wink.

"You'll see them later, blondie," Karen smirked.

Lucy rolled her eyes at the nickname before nodding and heading towards the books.

* * *

Lucy's eyes scanned the bookshelf, absorbing every title along the spines of books and occasionally bringing her hand up to trace over the lettering when she read a familiar name.

In front of her, were 88 different books on each and every constellation in alphabetical order. Unable to decide which spirit to start with, Lucy randomly grabbed a book off the shelf.

_The Gate of the Scorpion: Scorpio _

She flipped open book, wondering what information could be inside. The page she flipped to seemed to be part of a list of spells. She quickly scanned through the list. One spell in particular caught her eye.

_Sand Coffin, Sand Burial_

_Note: only use on foes_

Noticing it was the only spell with a warning note, she stared at the spell incantation in curiosity, stored it into the back of her mind and flipped the page, only to find more spells.

_I didn't know Scorpio had this many moves. I've only seen him used sand buster. I wonder why he's never used any of these._

"Lucy!" Loke called from the second floor. "I found something that might be helpful," he said as he jumped over the railing to the first floor and next to Lucy.

Lucy quickly placed Scorpio's book back into its place on the bookshelf and glanced at the book Loke handed to her.

"Celestial Castor Magic," she read out loud.

"There's a section about Celestial fusion in there," Loke explained.

"Oh. This will definitely help me understand my new power. Thanks Loke," Lucy beamed.

The playboy lion bowed and shot his master a flirty smirk. "Anytime Princess Lucy."

"Hey blondie! Stop flirting with catboy over there and come look at this," Angel shouted from the opposite side of the room.

"I was not flirting!" Lucy replied hotly before trudging over to the girl.

"What book is that?" Lucy asked, noticing the lack of a title on the leather bound book. The book was worn and the paper was yellow, giving the impression that it was old, very old.

"It's a journal," Karen deduced, leaning over Lucy to peek at the book.

"That's what I thought at first too," Angel said. "But it's hollow."

To prove her point, Angel opened the book.

Lucy gasped. Inside the hollowed book was a single silver key. Removing the key from the book, she noticed a note scribbled at the bottom of the hollow box.

_To save the dying Stars, guide the Fallen back to light. _

_~A.H. _

"A.H.? Who is that?" Lucy wondered.

"I don't know. And what does this note mean? Why are 'Stars' and 'Fallen' capitalized?" Karen murmured in confusion.

"Anyways, first things first. Why don't you try summoning the key?" Angel asked gesturing to the key which Lucy now held in her hands.

"It's the Gate of the Sextans," Karen noted, recognizing the symbol.

Lucy held the key in front of her. Something about it told her that this was not a normal key.

"I summon thee, gate of the Sextans, come forth, Sextant!" she commanded as the key burst with light.

When the light died away, Lucy found a little boy, probably no older than ten, standing in front of her. He had short brown hair and wore a black shirt with tiny yellow dots on them.

Lucy blinked. Were the yellow dots on his shirt moving or was it just her?

"Ah! I'm finally back in the human world. This is why it sucks to only have one key. I thought I was going to be stuck in the Celestial Realm forever!" he complained as he jumped around, obviously excited to be summoned.

He then turned to face Lucy. "I take it you summoned me?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

Lucy nodded. Words seemed to fail her at the moment.

"Nice to meet ya. Call me Seven," he greeted.

"Seven?" Lucy thought it was a weird name for a Spirit. Heck it was a weird name for anyone. "Uh hi, Seven. My name is Lucy Heartfilia, and I am your new friend," she said to him.

"Ah. Of course." Seven's smile seemed to widen even more. There was something unsettling in him that bothered Lucy. It almost seemed as if...he knew who she was before introducing him. She quickly shook the thought away.

"So what do you do Seven?" she asked curiously.

Suddenly, a dot on Seven's shirt glowed and Seven smiled in glee.

"Why don't I show you instead?" he giggled and soon the entire room was enveloped in a golden glow.

As Lucy shut her eyes to shield from the light, she couldn't help but have a bad feeling about what was to come.

* * *

Lucy realized she was no longer in the library even before she opened her eyes. The warmth of the sun against her skin and the buzz of people walking by had clued her in on that. Somehow, she had been transported outside.

"What the heck?" Lucy heard Angel complain a couple feet away from here.

Lucy opened her eyes and instantly recognized the town as the one she stumbled into after her trek through the desert.

"How did we get here?" She looked around. "And where's Seven?"

"Here."

She whirled behind her to see Seven staring straight ahead.

"What are you looking at?" she asked. "And why are we here?"

However, before he could answer, the ground started to rumble and screams could be heard nearby.

"He's here," Seven announced solemnly. His voice was laced with a sort of sadness and anger that was very unfitting for a ten year old. He turned to look at Lucy.

"Save him, please."

Lucy stood stunned by the pain in his eyes. Before she could reply, he disappeared in a flash of light.

"What the-" Karen cursed as she felt an invisible force constrict her body.

"Who's doing that?" Angel demanded, searching the now empty streets for a culprit.

A deep laugh echoed through streets as a pitch black figure emerged from the ground behind Karen. The figure molded into a human shape. Everything about it was black, except for the eyes, which were blood red.

"Who are you?" Lucy demanded.

The figure smirked.

"I am Corvus, master of the shadows."

Lucy's eyes widened at the familiar name.

_Corvus, the spirit of the Crow. _

As Lucy stared into red eyes of the shadow manipulator, she came to a realization and shuddered.

_He's one of the Fallen. It has begun._

* * *

**_AN:_**

I'm sorry. haha uh...it's been a while huh?

No excuses except I didn't know how to continue it... but i'm back to writing! Hopefully you can forgive me! Sorry for leaving you guys for so long!

Anyways, IamInk and : I'll get your quotes in as soon as possible. I haven't forgotten that yet.

Thanks for reading! Comments, questions, suggestions, and criticisms are all welcome!

Till next time!

Sosh~


	8. Master of Shadows

Layla stared up wordlessly at the black sky. She watched in sadness as the stars in one particularly dim constellation suddenly started to fall.

_There goes another one. Corvus the Crow, the master of the shadows. The sight of falling stars is so beautiful yet there is so much sadness._

Layla sighed.

That leaves only 60 constellations still shining.

Her eyes swept over the skies once more and frowned at all the overall dimness of the stars.

_Lucy, please get there in time._

* * *

"Let me go, you overgrown, emo bird!" Karen growled as Corvus disappeared into ground and melted into the shadows. She glanced at her two comrades who also seemed to be struggling against some invisible grip.

"I can't reach my keys," Angel muttered as she struggled to touch her keys.

Lucy closed her eyes as she fought against the death grip of the shadows.

_What should I do? How do you fight shadows? Can you even fight something you can't touch? Wait a minute...shadows?_

Lucy would've facepalmed at her stupidity if her arms weren't forcefully being pushed against her sides.

She looked down. She couldn't reach her keys either, but she didn't have to.

_Open! Gate of the Lion! Loke!_

Karen and Angel stared in shock as light suddenly erupted from Lucy. She had managed to call her spirits without even touching her keys.

"You called, my lady?" Loke smiled flirtatiously as he bowed.

"Get us out of this death grip!" Lucy cried.

"As you wish." However before Loke could move even a step, Corvus erupted from the ground and uppercutted him in the chin, sending the lion flying a couple of feet..

"What the-?" Loke got up and brushed his clothes as he eyed his eyes widened in shock.

"Corvus?" Loke was too stunned. "How? What happened to you? You used to be more handsome and not so...broody looking."

Corvus smirked, his red slits narrowing in mock derision. "Ah, if it isn't the leader of the Zodiac, the Lion of the Light. You're just who I wanted to see." He regarded Loke with a slight tilt of the head.

"I quit being a celestial spirit. Let's just say I've finally had enough. I'm sick of the stupid humans who treat us like trash, sick of waiting for years and years until someone finds my key, and sick of you." Corvus paused and Loke could see his shoulders rise in anger.

"You stupid zodiacs think you're all so special and so strong. I'm sick of your arrogant ass," Corvus spat.

Loke recoiled in shock. He was stunned. "I-I had no idea-"

"Of course you didn't. You had everything, the title as the leader of all of the constellations, the Old Man's respect, and…"

Lucy felt a chill go down her spine as Corvus turned his head and glared at Lucy.

"...the perfect owner."

The shadow grip tightened and Lucy felt herself struggling to breathe.

"S-stop," she gasped weakly as she struggled against the grip.

"It's not fair that you got everything, while we, the other constellations, suffered. I'm going to kill her in order to avenge all of us Fallen ones," Corvus threatened as he tightened the grip on Lucy once more.

"Stop!" Loke shouted. He quickly blast a beam of light at the shadow grip and hurriedly grabbed Lucy as the shadows tried to regroup. He jumped to side and faced Corvus, with Lucy leaning against him still trying to catch her breath.

"She is not my owner," Loke announced as he stared Corvus down.

"She is my friend." Loke continued. "And I will protect her. You may be an old friend, Corvus, but no one lays a hand on Lucy and gets away with it."

"Friend?! FRIEND?!" Corvus seethed. "You were never my friend. I hated you! You and all the other zodiacs!" he screamed as he sent a shadow blast at Loke.

"I got this," Loke whispered to Lucy. "Go save your friends."

With a reassuring look and a nod, Lucy ran off to free Angel and Karen.

Loke on the other hand, quickly neutralized the incoming attack with a beam of light.

"You can't beat me, Corvus. Come back to the us," Loke spoke in a low voice. "It's still not too late."

"I belong in the shadows," was Corvus's grave answer before he turned into a shadow and lunged at Loke.

Loke was sent flying back once more as Corvus suddenly materialized and pushed him back.

"Ugh. Why didn't you say anything? If you were so unhappy, why didn't you say anything?" Loke asked as he staggered to his feet.

"Who would listen?!" raged Corvus. "We had no one!" he shouted as he willed the shadows to wrap around Loke.

"That's not true!" Loke tried to protest but was completely enveloped in spherical shadow prison.

"I don't need your lies, Lion," Corvus muttered. "I've had enough." He clenched his fist and watched as the shadowy sphere convulsed once.

"Aghhhh!"

Lucy turned around after hearing Loke scream.

"Loke!" she cried. She tried to run to him, but was held back.

"Don't rush into it alone you stupid blonde," Angel chastised her harshly, but Lucy didn't care. She couldn't think of anything except her friend who was in pain.

Loke needs me. I have to go help him.

She sprinted after the sphere. Angel just sighed at the blonde's rashness and looked over at Karen who mirrored the resigned look on her face.

_Stupid Lucy. Her loyalty is going to kill her someday._

Despite that, Angel couldn't help but smile.

_Oh god. I really have changed a lot._

* * *

"I'll let you have a taste of what real darkness is Leo. Even your light won't be able to penetrate this. Shadow Prison: Blackhole!" Corvus smirked.

Loke's screams intensified. "AGHHHHH!"

Corvus laughed. "Haha. That's right. It hurts, huh? I'm going to show you true pain. More!"

"AGHHHHHH!"

"You can't escape this. No magic can penetrate this, from the inside or the outside. You can't return back to the spirit world, even through forced closure. You're trapped, Lion. This is your end."

The sphere convulsed once more and Loke screamed.

"Loke!"

Corvus saw the Lucy sprinting towards the sphere.

_Oh no you don't little girly. I am not going to let you ruin my fun._

"Shadow Chaser!" He quickly sent two shadows after the blonde.

Lucy tripped as the shadows coiled up her leg.

"Not so fast! Open! Gate of the Swan, Cygnus!" Angel shouted.

"Open! Gate of the River, Eridani!" Karen shouted.

"Cygnus, transformation! Reveal, the White Swan: Odette!" Angel shouted as an elegant woman in a white dress appeared. "Attack the shadows with your light!"

Aiming a finger at the shadows attached to Lucy, Odette shot a thin beam of light and severed the connection, releasing Lucy from the shadows.

"Go! We got your back! Just be careful!" Angel shouted to Lucy, as she got up from the ground.

Lucy nodded at her new friends before facing the dark sphere where she could hear Loke's screams of pain, and grimaced.

_Wait for me. I will save you._

Cautiously, she reached out and touched the shadowy prison and was instantly sucked in.

"That idiot girl. I can't believe she voluntarily walked into my prison of death," Corvus laughed as he took a step.

"You're not going anywhere, you black lump of coal," Karen taunted.

Corvus eyed the two mages before him and burst out in laughter. "So you're all celestial mages? Well unfortunately for you, I know all the strengths and weaknesses of all of the celestial spirits. Neither of these two spirits are particularly strong either. There is no way you're ever going to stop me. Besides, neither Leo nor his owner are going to make it out alive anyways. You're all dead."

Karen growled. "We'll see about that. Eri!"

The river spirit, a pale girl with long flowing blue hair, turned and nodded at Karen, understanding her perfectly.

Eri aimed two deadly slices of water at Corvus, who wasn't fazed and didn't move from his spot.

Suddenly, his body dematerialized and the water went right through him. As he rematerialized, he laughed.

"You can't hit me with such a weak attack," he taunted, before sending a flurry of crows.

However, the crows suddenly deviated from their path and crashed straight into the ground.

"What the heck!" Corvus screamed.

Angel smirked. "Transformation reveal: Odile, the Black Swan!"

The girl once dressed in white, was replaced with a grim looking girl in black leather.

Corvus scoffed. "You dare control my shadows? No one controls the shadows better than me. I am the master of shadows!" He quickly sent a bombard of shadows towards Eri and Odile.

Odile was able to manipulate the shadows away from her but was unable to help Eri, who got stabbed by several shadow spikes.

"I told you I knew the strengths and weaknesses of all of the spirits," Corvus jested. "Odile does not have the same control over shadows as I do because of her other side, the light side. There is no way she can fully manipulate the darkness if half of her is pure light."

Karen merely smirked as Eri suddenly changed into a blob of water, escaping the spikes, before changing back into human form.

"Oh really? If you really did know everything about spirits, then you should've known that shadows have no effect on Eri. She is after all, the river spirit, so she can turn any part of her body into pure water. Shadows have no effect on water," Karen taunted back.

Corvus frowned.

"And you may be right about Odile not being able to control the shadows as well as you, but because of her duality, she is not only not affected by your shadow attacks, but can also attack you with your weakness, light," Angel smirked. "What are you going to do? You can't hurt any of us, but we have your weakness."

Corvus growled. "As if I would go down so easily. Bring it. I will cover both of your worlds in shadows."

* * *

Lucy felt numb. There was darkness all around her, and it seemed almost tangible. She could feel the darkness was sucking something, she didn't know what, out of her.

Suddenly, her entire body exploded in pain and she screamed.

"Lucy?" She heard the strangled cry of her beloved friend.

"Loke!"

"Lucy! What the heck are you doing in here? Are you stupid?" Loke asked.

"I'm here to get you out, where are you?" Lucy asked. Before Loke could reply, the sphere pulsed once more and the two screamed out in pain.

"What is going on?" Lucy asked. "What is this doing?"

"It's sucking the light out of me," Loke explained. "This prison is truly my weakness. Lucy, it shouldn't be as worse for you. You have to make it out of here. You have to save Corvus. Something has possessed him. He's not thinking right."

"No! I'm not leaving you." Lucy closed her eyes.

_Here goes nothing. Celestial Fusion! Gate of the Lion!_

Lucy reached into her magic container and released it all at once.

* * *

Corvus panted as he lay on the ground, battered and beaten.

"I can't believe it. To be beaten by the likes of you two! You were the weakest of the weak!" Corvus screamed.

Eri eyed the Crow warily. "That's because you don't know true strength."

"What?" Corvus asked as he pushed himself up so he was on his hands.

"Our owners, no," Eri paused. "Our friends believed in us. That's what makes us strong."

Karen and Angel smiled.

"The strength of celestial spirits depend on the strength of their owners. If the owners are lacking, there is really not much the celestial spirit can do without forcing his owner into magical deficiency. You know that, Corvus," Eri spoke delicately.

"But there is just no way, no way you can be that strong," Corvus panted.

"That's because you always gave up too quickly. All you ever saw was pain. You always victimized yourself and blamed the others for what you lacked," Eri spoke sharply now. "And that is heart."

"I don't believe you," Corvus muttered.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion of light.

"I-impossible," Corvus stammered.

Where the shadow prison once stood, now stood Lucy and Loke. Both were glowing.

"That's impossible. You couldn't have destroyed that prison with light. Everyone knows light can't escape black holes!" Corvus cried in anguish.

As the light died down, Corvus spotted a symbol on Lucy's neck and gasped.

"Celestial Fusion...I didn't even know that was possible for a human…"

Lucy eyed the poor spirit and sighed. She walked over to him and looked him in the eye. She watched as a tear fell from his left eye. To her surprise, she didn't see anger of resentment in his eyes. She only saw a look of longing, pain, and above all, loneliness.

"Please," Corvus whispered, as his eyes flickered to brown briefly before they flickered back to blood red.

Lucy nodded and placed her palm over his head.

"Release, and close, gate of the Crow."

Corvus started to glow golden. Lucy watched in amazement as his entirely black body morphed into a guy dressed in an entirely black suit. His black hair covered one eye, but revealed the other brown eye.

Corvus, now in his true form, looked up gratefully at Lucy.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving me," he whispered before looked at Loke."I'm sorry. I don't know what happened-"

"Shh. It's okay. I understand." Loke smiled reassuringly at him. Corvus sighed and looked down as he let out a small smile.

He whispered one last thank you before he disappeared in a flash of light.

Lucy looked down and gingerly picked up the silver key. She eyed the symbol before she placed it with her other keys and smiled. She had finally saved one.

* * *

Five stars twinkled brightly amidst the night sky.

Layla smiled. The Crow, the Master of Shadows, is once again shining brightly.

* * *

"Good job! You did better than I expected," Seven exclaimed cheerfully as he sat on Loke's shoulders.

"You have some explaining to do," Lucy pointed out.

"Ah yes, I do, don't I?" Seven grinned. "Well you see my shirt?"

Lucy, Karen, and Angel glanced at the boy's shirt and noticed there were no yellow dots like earlier and nodded.

"What about it?" Angel asked.

"Well what do you think the dots represent?" Seven asked playfully.

"Just tell us! I am in no mood for games, littly boy," Karen threatened.

Seven grabbed Loke's hair and hid behind Loke's head.

"Okay, okay! Well, they represent the Fallen. Whenever there is a Fallen nearby, the constellation of the Fallen spirit will show on my shirt and automatically teleport us there," Seven explained. "I am Sextant, the navigator for the lost."

"Ohhh. That makes sense." Lucy nodded. "So you felt Corvus nearby and teleported us here."

Seven nodded. "Correct, nee-chan."

"Well aren't you pretty useful," Karen commented.

"You betcha, scary lady!" Seven beamed and ignored the glare he got in return.

Lucy smiled at the adorable spirit.

"Hm, but I think you should look for my brother," Seven said.

"Who's your brother?" Lucy asked.

"Octans, the Octant. I call him Eight," Seven explained. "His ability is similar to mine except his works for celestial spirits. He can find all the celestial keys nearby. Plus, our abilities work better when we're together."

"Wait really? That will totally help us in the quest for all of the keys," Lucy cried out. "This isn't going to be impossible!"

"Yeah but where do we find him," Karen pointed out dryly.

Lucy pouted, sad her bubble burst so quickly and looked at Seven for help. The boy shrugged.

"I don't know. We were separated because as I said before, it's dangerous when we're both together," said Seven. "I think my brother was hidden away like I was in fear that someone would abuse his ability."

Lucy groaned. "How are we supposed to find him then?"

"Why don't we just find as many keys as possible?" Loke asked.

"How?" Angel asked.

Suddenly Lucy snapped her fingers as an idea hit her.

"Guild requests!"

"Huh?" Both Karen and Angel stared at the blonde in confusion.

"You know how sometimes a key would be offered as a reward to a mission? Why don't we just find a whole bunch of missions that offer keys as rewards," Lucy exclaimed proudly.

"Yeah but…"

Lucy deflated as Angel started.

"Neither of us are in guilds. The only one in a guild is you," Angel said to Lucy, to which Lucy deflated visibly.

"Actually," she scratched her head sheepishly. "I ran away from Fairy Tail…"

"Why?" Angel asked curious. From what she saw, the blonde seemed too attached to just leave her family.

"Personal reasons," Lucy answered dismissively, clearly trying to avoid the subject.

Catching on, Angel and Karen left the subject alone.

"So then how-" Angel was cut off by Karen.

"We steal them."

Lucy's eyes popped out of her head. "Excuse me!?"

"We steal them," Karen shrugged. "We just sneak into guilds and steal the missions. It's simple really."

Lucy eyed her companion in wonder.

"Do you have a better idea?" Karen challenged.

As the obvious answer was no, Lucy sighed and agreed.

"Good. Now let's go steal us some missions."

* * *

**AN: **wow glad to be back after so long.

blame the doc manager for never loading. I tried for weeks! It doesn't load on my computer but it does on my phone. Go wonder.

Anyways, what did you guys think? lol I really can't write battle scenes.

Also what do you guys think about Seven, Eight, Corvus, Eridanis, and Cygnus.

I know the swan in the manga is a guy named Deneb but I liked the idea of a white and black swan better so... yeah. The swan was originally supposed to be a guy, but I wanted their names to be Odette and Odile to reflect the black and white swan so she ended up being a girl. :P

Till next time!

~Sosh


	9. Open, Gate of the Hero

"Do we have to?" Lucy complained under her breath.

"Unless you want to be reason why the world ended, yes," Karen whispered back harshly.

"You exaggerate."

"And you're a coward." To emphasize her point, Karen began making crying faces at the blonde.

"Stop it, you two!" Angel hushed the bickering bunch before looking up. "It'll be dark soon. We will begin our plan then. Just act according to routine, okay?" She glared at Lucy and Karen as if daring them to complain.

Karen scoffed indifferently, while Lucy nodded wordlessly.

Unlike the other times, this was no ordinary guild infiltration. Lucy was about to infiltrate Fairy Tail, _her home_. She felt her heart beating fast in anticipation. Just a couple blocks away from where they were squatting were her friends, _her family_.

Lucy's heart lurched. She hoped everyone was okay. Last time she saw them, they were all beaten and unconscious. An image of a certain redhead lying helplessly in the hospital bed flashed into her mind before she quickly dismissed it.

_They're all okay. They're strong. I know it. Please..._

She so badly wanted to run, slam the guild doors open and hug the first person she sees which would probably be Mira, but she was afraid. Her personal mission to overcome her weakness wasn't finished and she didn't want to just show up at the guild having accomplished nothing. What was the point of running away in the first place then?

_But that's not all. That's not the only thing you're scared of._

Lucy was scared. She was scared what everyone would think about the fact that she ran away. She had abandoned them and in a dire situation where her teammates were still unconscious.

_They would forgive me for that. They would still welcome me with open arms because they're Fairy Tail._

Lucy knew that too, but she didn't know if she could settle with just running back. That's just giving in to her problems. Running back will solve nothing. No, there was something telling her that she still had something to do before she could go back. Whatever it was, she would go back once and only once she had completely come to terms with herself.

_They might be able to forgive me, but I would never be able to live with myself if I ran home crying._

_"Princess."_

Lucy sat up, startled by the voice in her head. _"Corvus? Is that you? You're back?"_

_"Yes."_

Lucy let out a small sigh of relief. After the battle, Corvus seemed to have gone back to normal and all his memories as a Fallen were wiped. He then pledged his life to Lucy who deemed it unnecessary. After all, what are friends for?

_"So? How are they?"_

_"There was no one in the sick bay. But I didn't see the pink headed lizard guy, the stripper, nor the red headed beauty in the guild."_

Lucy didn't know how to respond. Her friends could either be safe and away on a mission or...

_"I do not believe they are dead, Princess. The people in Fairy Tail seemed fairly lively. They seemed more busy than mournful."_

Lucy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. That was the best news she's heard all week.

_"Good. Thank you, Corvus."_

Before Lucy could say anything else, she felt Corvus's presence in her mind disappear.

_I can still feel Corvus holding back. He's still feeling guilty about giving in to the darkness. I hope he forgives himself and opens up to us._

"Lucy."

"Yeah?" Startled, Lucy looked up to meet dark red eyes.

Karen observed the blonde's face curiously. Lucy could tell Karen wanted to ask her something, and hoped her face didn't betray her. In the end, Karen relented, resigning to sighing.

"Nothing. Let's go. It's time. Night has fallen."

Lucy smiled briefly. Although she couldn't be with her family now, she still had people who cared for her.

"Let's go."

* * *

"Are you sure no one's in there?" Lucy asked anxiously. She really didn't want to run into anyone under these circumstances. Knowing Fairy Tail, she would be fried chicken before she got a chance to reveal herself as a friend and not an enemy.

"Positive. Everyone has gone home for the night," Angel replied. "Send Corvus in to check to double check."

Lucy nodded and pulled out Corvus's key. "Open, gate of the Crow."

There was a flash of light where the tall, dark haired Corvus appeared. He bowed. "Princess."

Lucy inwardly sighed at the nickname. Why were her spirits so insistent on calling her "Princess"?

"Can you check if anyone is in there?"

Corvus nodded before disappearing. Not even a second later, he appeared and bowed once more. "It is clear."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem, Princess. Shall I disguise your scent and voice again?"

Lucy nodded again. She didn't want to giver herself away through her scent. She knew just how sensitive those dragon slayer noses can be.

"Yes please."

"**Shadow magic: Hidden Identity**," Corvus chanted as he cast a shadow over Lucy, Karen, and Angel, who felt a coldness run down their bodies as a side effect. Then in a flash of light, Corvus disappeared.

"Let's go. We're wasting time," Karen whispered and slipped on her hood. She quickly approached the guild door and gently pushed it open. Lucy flinched when the door creaked.

They paused, made sure the coast was clear, and darted in. Lucy lead the trio straight to the mission board. Wordlessly, they scanned the missions and tore off the ones that mentioned a silver key.

"There are S class missions on the second floor too," Lucy whispered into the dark. A figure, Lucy assumed it was Karen based on the height, nodded and started to walk up the stairs when the lights suddenly blasted on.

"You know, the second floor is forbidden. Only S class mages are allowed up there," a familiar voice spoke with authority.

Lucy cursed quietly and turned around, eyes widening under the hood as she caught sight of the red hair. Behind the armoured woman, stood all of Fairy Tail glaring at them. Lucy gulped but a part of her was relieved.

_Shit. Well this could not have gone any worse. But, all three of them are okay. Man I miss them. I wonder why Corvus didn't seen them though…_

"There's something weird about them," Natsu spoke up suddenly as he eyed the three figures.

"What is it Natsu?" Gray asked.

Natsu sniffed the air for a bit before his face morphed into realization. "They don't have scents!"

Erza's eyes scanned the three frozen mages suspiciously and landed on the one that seemed to be looking straight at her. Her eyes narrowed.

"You. You knew that the second floor contained S class missions only. How did you know that? Are you a spy?" Erza questioned as she pulled out a sword and pointed it at the hooded figure. The hooded figure flinched, which Erza found odd.

_They can't be that strong if just the sight of my sword frightens them. Though, I would be scared too if I were them. No one messes with Fairy Tail and gets away_.

"I thought you said they were all gone," Karen growled lowly.

"I saw them all leave. They shouldn't be here," Angel voiced back incredulously.

Erza smirked. "It was just an illusion. We've been waiting for you, actually."

Lucy was surprised. _No wonder Corvus didn't find them, but how did Fairy Tail know they were coming?_

"You made a mistake when you infiltrated Blue Pegasus two days ago. They quickly informed us of the midnight thieves who infiltrated guilds and stole missions. We've been waiting for you every night since." Erza explained.

"Now, that you guys have finally decided to show up, let's have some fun shall we?" Gray smiled.

Natsu smiled as he bashed his fist into palm. "Alright! I'm all fired up!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy chimed in.

Lucy gulped. _Oh this is not good. We have to run now._

She reached for her keys but stopped as realization hit her._ I can't summon my spirits. It would give myself away._

Panic struck through her. How were they supposed to get out of this unscathed without revealing their identities?

Suddenly, Karen sprinted up the staircase up to the second floor.

Lucy fought the urge to scream. _WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! The exit it THAT way!_

"Stop them!" Erza commanded before landing in front of Karen, blocking her from the mission board. "I thought I told you. This place is for S class mages only?" she mocked.

Karen returned an easy smile of her own under her hood. "Who said I'm not one?"

Erza raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, I'm sure I could determine whether or not you're worthy of such a title, thief."

Erza rushed forward with her sword drawn. Karen reached for keys but before she could touch them, Erza disappeared from her sight.

Karen would have laughed out loud if not for the situation. Lucy just tackled Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, to the ground.

_Damn. Kid's got guts._

Karen quickly jumped to the mission board and took two after scanning through them. She then turned around to help Lucy only to find the blonde crash landing downstairs after being kicked by a certain angry redhead.

Erza eyed the papers in Karen's hand. "Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded. When she received no answer, she charged once more.

However, before the sword could make contact, Lucy jumped in with another tackle, this time aimed at Karen.

"What are you doing? She's the enemy! Do you think you're playing football right now? Quit tackling people!" Karen hissed.

"I know! But if you use your keys, it's going to clue them in on us," Lucy rasped out quickly. "You think I would tackle Erza for fun? No one in their right minds would. It was a last minute resort."

Karen groaned at the logical reasoning. "How are we going to get out of here then?" She eyed Lucy's face. "You have a plan, don't you. I know that look on your face by now."

Lucy grinned. "Just trust me. We need to regroup first on the first floor. Get as close to the walls as possible."

Karen gave the blonde an unimpressed look. "That's so vague."

"It's not! Just trust me."

Karen sighed. "Does Angel know the plan at least?" she asked as she eyed the said girl dodging attacks left and right on the first floor.

Lucy shook her head, causing Karen to groan.

"Unbelievable."

"Should I remind you of the opponent standing before you?" Erza asked as she regarded the duo curiously. They didn't seem like any other dark mages she had faced before. They were too...clumsy.

Karen cast one last look at Lucy whose eyes screamed "trust me" before jumping off the second floor to help Angel.

_Stupid blondes._

* * *

Erza eyed the lone cloaked thief in front of her.

_This was the same one that flinched when I took out my sword. Guess she wasn't so weak after all; she did manage to tackle me. However, that's not going to happen again._

The two stood staring at each other silently. Erza raised an eyebrow.

_Are you not going to move? Fine, I will make the first move then._

Suddenly, Erza saw the figure tense up.

_Here she comes!_

Erza raised her sword, ready to counter. However, Lucy did not charge forward. No, no one in their right minds would charge forward at Erza without any magic. Instead, she jumped backwards, landing safely onto the first floor and regrouping with her two companions.

"Running away won't help you," Erza called after them. She quickly jumped after Lucy and Fairy Tail quickly surrounded the three intruders.

"How are we going to get out of here? The door is being guarded by your flame-head boyfriend," Angel whispered.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Lucy protested, her face going warm. "I don't like him like that!"

"Look, we have bigger problems than your love life right now. Care to explain your plan now Ms. Genius Tactician?" Karen asked.

"You're not going anywhere!" Natsu yelled as the rest of Fairy Tail prepared their attacks.

"On a count of three, jump," Lucy said simply to Karen and Angel.

"Huh?"

"1...2…"

"Wait, how is this-"

"Stop!" Erza shouted, but it was too late.

"Fire!" Natsu yelled and Fairy Tail released their attacks.

"3! Jump!"

The trio managed to dodge the flurry of incoming attacks.

"Quick through the hole!" Lucy shouted as she pushed Karen and Angel forward.

"That was your genius plan?" Karen shouted in disbelief.

Lucy shrugged. "Doors are overrated. No one in Fairy Tail ever used them properly anyways."

"Don't let them get away!" Lucy heard Erza call after them, but it was too late. She mentally called upon Corvus.

_Corvus! We need you to hide us in the shadows._

There was no response, but Lucy knew Corvus had done his job as she felt the coolness of the darkness's embrace envelop her. They were safe. There was no way Fairy Tail would be able to find them now. She quickly sent a mental thank you to Corvus.

As she was just about to release a sigh of relief, an earsplitting roar interrupted the peace of the night.

"Shit," Karen cursed. "What the hell was that?" she asked, looking over at the forest.

Lucy's eyes widened as she felt her keys glow.

"That's a Fallen," Angel breathed out.

"Wait, no," She gasped. "There's two of them."

Lucy felt her heart drop into her stomach. "And they're heading straight towards Fairy Tail."

* * *

"Arghhhh!" Natsu roared into the air. "I can't believe we let them get away!" He got up to chase after them.

"Wait!"

Natsu stopped and turned to look at Erza in confusion. "Why? They broke into our guild and stole our missions! Are you just going to let them get away? I'm going after them."

"Hey!" Erza called after him, only to sigh after being ignored. "Gray, go after him. Running recklessly into the dark trying to track people without scents isn't going to be very effective."

Gray nodded and followed the pink-head out.

Erza sat down and rubbed her chin pensively.

"Something's not right. They didn't attack us; they didn't use magic; they seemed too weak to be from a dark guild. Nothing is adding up. Why did they steal the missions?"

She looked up suddenly. "Mira, can you look over and see which missions are missing? Levy can you help Mira find something in common with all the stolen missions?"

Mira nodded and immediately headed over to the counter with Levy following behind.

"Let's see. They took five normal missions and two S-class missions. One S-class mission was to rescue a person from a dark guild and the other was to retrieve an artifact. The normal ones included bandits in a village, cyclops in a forest, protecting an important shipment…."Mira read off the book of missions.

"None of these have anything that stands out. They don't seem to have anything in common either, just normal missions. The rewards are just your regular rates too."

"Wait!" Levy shouted and quickly took the book away from Mirajane. "No they're not! Look closer at the rewards! They all include some sort of Celestial K-"

"AGHHHHHHHH!"

All heads turned to the entrance of the guild.

"Was that Natsu?" Wendy asked. "He sounded like he's in trouble."

Without another word, all the members ran outside to see Natsu beaten and battered on the ground. Gray was nowhere to be seen.

"Natsu!" Erza demanded as she drew her sword. "What happened?"

Before he could respond, a loud crash sounded to the right of the guild.

"IS THAT A DRAGON?" Charla shouted.

"It has nine heads…" Wendy commented meekly.

"It's really ugly," Charla chimed in disgust.

"Alright! This looks like a job for a proper dragon slayer. Gihi." Gajeel smirked.

"There's Gray!" Mira shouted pointing up at the sky. Gray was stuck in the beak of what looked like a giant eagle bird.

"We have to defeat them, let's go. Dragon slayers, do your thing. We'll take care of the giant bird," Erza ordered.

"Wait! It's not a dragon."

Everyone turned to look at Levy, who gulped.

"It's not a dragon. It's Hydra, the Celestial Spirit. And that bird, is Aquila, the Celestial Eagle. That's what I was trying to say! The missions that were stolen...they all offered a celestial key as a reward."

She paused to let everything sink in.

"I don't know what's going on but, I think… I think L-Lucy may be in trouble. And right now..." Levy gulped once more as she lifted her head and stared into the nine pair of blood red eyes.

"...so are we."

* * *

Erza charged.

"Wait, NO!" Levy shouted but it was too late. The redhead had chopped off two of Hydra's heads.

"This won't take long," Erza commented.

"No! Stop!" Levy screamed. Erza looked over at the blue-head in confusion before turning her attention back to the monster.

"Oh...well that's unfortunate," she said as she watched the previously nine-headed monster sprout four heads and become an eleven headed monster.

"That's what I was trying to tell you!" Levy gasped. "If you cut off a head, two more heads grow in its place."

"So how do we beat it?" Erza asked.

"Well, Hercules, the only hero known to have bested the Hydra, burned the stumps so the heads wouldn't regrow. Once you chop off the last remaining head, it should die," Levy explained.

Erza nodded once. "Natsu!"

"Aye! I got your back," he responded.

"Good. Everyone else, go help Gray!" Erza shouted as she jumped into action once more.

She immediately requipped into her Flame Empress Armor and proceeded to chop three of the heads at once, burning the stubs as she did so.

"**Fire Dragon's Kick!**"

Within a few seconds, the eleven heads were reduced to one.

Erza looked over at Natsu who nodded, and together, they charged.

"Hah! We did it! That was a piece of cake," Natsu smirked.

Erza perked up. "Cake?"

However, the smoke cleared, revealing the still standing Hydra.

"What the heck? Why is that fake dragon lizard thing still alive? How does it still have a head?" Natsu complained.

Erza grit her teeth. She definitely didn't miss, so why was the head still attached.

"One more time."

They charged once more, bombarding the head with multiple attacks.

"Ugh, it's still standing," Natsu puffed. "I don't believe this. I'm a freaking dragon slayer! **Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!**"

Erza watched as the Hydra shook off the attack easily. She watched in horror as the burned stumps slowly healed themselves.

"Oh no. It's regrowing heads. Natsu! Aim for the stumps! We can't let it heal and grow more heads!" she shouted.

"Aye, aye! **Fire Dragon's Roar!**"

"Haha," Natsu laughed. "Just try to grow your heads back you ugly dragon wannabe!"

Erza bit her lip. They can stop the heads from regrowing, but they can't cut off the last head.

_Why?_

Growling, she requipped into her Black Wing Armor.

_Well, I'm not going to stop trying._

* * *

"So, what are you going to do?" Karen asked Lucy who seemed to be struggling with staying still as she watched her guild being attacked.

"Are you going to save them and reveal your identity or are you going to continue to hide and leave them?"

Angel watched as Lucy bit her lips, obviously troubled. She closed her eyes and sighed. "You know, they are your friends and family. They would never-"

"Angel," Karen called.

"Yeah?"

"She's already gone."

Angel opened her eyes to see Lucy running back towards Fairy Tail. She let out a low chuckle. "That's what I thought."

She looked over at Karen who sighed, "You ready? We better make sure Blondie doesn't get killed. We kinda need her."

Letting out another low chuckle, Angel sprinted after her blonde friend.

_God damn it. Wait for us next time. We're your friends too._

* * *

_This getting us nowhere!_

Erza growled in frustration as she leaned against her knees panting.

_None of my swords are cutting through, and neither are Natsu's attacks._

Suddenly, a movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. Her eyes widened in recognition at the midnight black hoods.

"You're one of the mission thieves. What the heck do you want?" Erza demanded.

The hooded figure stopped directly in front of Erza and did not reply. Erza growled once more as she heard Natsu struggling to stop the Hydra from regenerating heads.

"Tsk. If you're not going to help, then move out of the way. You're only going to be a bur-"

Erza groaned as she found herself pressed against the ground after being tackled for the second time. She was about to yell at the hooded figure in front of her when she realized the puddle of acid where she was previously standing. She eyed the figure in front of her as the mysterious person stood up.

"You saved me. Why?"

As expected, there was no answer.

Erza groaned in frustration. "Whatever."

She stepped forward and took up her sword but was stopped by a soft grip on her hand. She glared at the offender, but anger quickly turned into confusion as the hooded figure, who was most likely a girl based on the smoothness of her hands, shook her head once and faced the Hydra herself.

Erza watched curiously as the girl raised her hand and shadows wrapped around the Hydra, restraining each head from moving.

_So she uses shadow magic. Interesting. Guess I was wrong about them being weak._

The hooded figure clenched her fist, and the shadow bonds tightened, bringing the monster flailing to the ground.

Before Erza could react, another hooded figure jumped out holding a giant sword and aimed for the last remaining head.

She saw the blade cut through the first layer of skin.

"What? How? None of my swords could cut through that hide. Yet this person, with only one hit…"

Before she could finish her thought, the Hydra gave one last growl and brushed the sword away as well as the shadow restraints. The neck was already healed by the time it got back on its feet.

"I spoke too soon," Erza muttered. "Watch out!"

The shadow user looked up to see the Hydra ready to spit it's poisonous saliva at her.

"Shit-uff"

Erza smirked down at the hooded figure whom she was now lying atop of.

"Looks like it was my turn to tackle and save you."

"Guess we're even then." The voice was smooth and high pitched.

_Definitely a girl's voice. And kinda familiar?_

"Nope. Don't think I forgot the first tackle back in the guild," Erza smirked, teasing the girl.

"...Can you get off me?" the girl asked, lightly pushing on Erza's shoulders.

Erza did as the girl asked and offered a hand to help the girl up on her feet.

"Thanks," Lucy muttered, to conceal her voice as much as possible.

"So do you and your friends know how to beat this beast?" Erza asked as she saw the third thief helping Wendy and Gray against the giant eagle.

"Well...we do but…"

"What?"

"I thought the sword would be enough but…" Lucy mumbled to herself.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" Erza asked, leaning closer, causing Lucy to back away slightly.

"Uh...well do you know the myth regarding Hydra?"

Erza shook her head.

"Well, basically, someone defeated this Hydra years ago, and only he can defeat it while wielding the heavenly sword…" Lucy trailed off. "We have the sword," Lucy gestured to the sword Angel was holding. "But as for the hero…"

"He's long gone, isn't he?" Erza concluded.

Lucy nodded underneath her hood.

Erza sighed. "Well, it's not all hopeless. You said this was the sword destined to cut through the last head?"

Lucy nodded again.

Erza walked over to Angel and gestured at the sword. "May I?"

Angel glanced at Lucy, before hesitantly handing the sword over.

Erza tested the balance of the sword. It was a good sword and Erza could feel the power buzzing within it.

Holding the sword firmly, she charged. As soon as she made contact, the recoil pushed her back. There was no cut on the Hydra.

"What the heck? Why didn't it do anything?" Erza asked.

Lucy fidgeted under Erza's glare.

"Ummm…"

"Sorry, but the sword's a little picky. Not everyone can yield it," Angel spoke up and Lucy felt a chill go through her spine as Erza narrowed her eyes.

"What?" Erza growled lowly.

_Oh no._ Lucy gulped. _She did NOT just insult THE Titania and her swordsmanship. Okay. That's it. We're doomed. Angel please stop talking._

"Are you saying that I'm not worthy enough to wield this sword?" Erza muttered darkly.

Angel's eyes widened.

_Oh now she realizes what she's done. Too late for us though._ Lucy scoffed mentally and closed her eyes bracing herself for Titania's rage.

But there was no giant explosion. No sudden materializations of thousands of thrusting swords. No screams. No blood. No pain. Nothing.

Instead, Lucy opened her eyes at the sound of something much more terrifying.

Erza was chuckling. She eyed the sword in her hand.

"Not worthy, eh? Guess I'll just have to prove my worthiness."

She turned to face the monster. "No sword has ever not responded to my command. This will be your funeral, monster. Prepare yourself!"

She charged again.

"Wait! Stop!" Lucy screamed too late.

The sword rebounded right as it made contact with Hydra's neck and reflected against Erza. Lucy watched in horror as Erza flew ten feet back. She quickly ran to the fallen warrior.

"Oh my goodness…" Lucy was at a loss for words.

There was a giant gash across Erza's chest. Erza looked down at her bloodied chest and smirked in reassurance.

"Don't worry. It was just a shallow cut."

Lucy didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the redhead's super high pain tolerance.

Erza brushed off the pain and charged again, only to be pushed back with a harder recoil.

"Stop! What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed? It's not going to work! You can't just force it!" Lucy shouted, furious at the redhead's rashness.

"I will slay that monster," Erza declared. She got up again, catching herself as she swayed to the left, before charging once more.

"Stop! Can't you understand? Only Hercules can kill it!" Karen warned, but the redhead paid no attention.

"Why is she doing this to herself?" Lucy whispered.

"She's a stubborn one alright," Angel commented as they watched the redhead charge the monster again and again.

"It's impossible without Hercules, but we don't have his key."

"Erza, why?" Lucy sobbed. "WHY?"she demanded as she watched Erza struggle to her feet. She could barely stand and was bleeding profusely.

The redhead looked over and smiled. "Because, that's a celestial spirit, isn't it? If we beat it, it might bring us closer to finding one of our nakama. It might bring us a step closer to finding Lucy," she said as she charged again.

"No, stop!" Lucy cried and rushed toward the redhead. "ERZA!"

Suddenly, Karen felt an immense wave of magical power rush over her.

"What's happening? Why is Blondie glowing?" Angel asked Karen as she gasped from the force of the power Lucy was emitting.

"I'm not going to let you hurt yourself any longer!" Lucy screamed as she grabbed Erza from behind, stopping her in her tracks.

"Come out! Where are you? I need you! Where are you?" Lucy screamed desperately with her eyes shut.

Karen gasped as the light surrounding Lucy intensified. "Holy shit. She isn't about to-"

"Oh my gosh I think she is."

"I didn't think it was possible…"

"You better bring yourself out here!" Lucy wailed desperately with all of her strength.

"OPEN! Gate of the Hero, HERCULES!"

Erza felt her knees buckle as she fell into Lucy's embrace. The power emitting from the hooded mage was unlike anything she has ever-

_No, wait. It feels just like that time. When Team Natsu blacked out… But this is much stronger._

The light intensified and Erza shut her eyes. Amidst the chaos she barely made out the distinct sound of a doorbell before the light died away.

"No fucking way."

"Blondie just-"

"-that's freaking…"

Karen and Angel were at a loss for words. Standing right in front of them was none other than the lost hero, Hercules.

"She summoned him without a key, from pure willpower and magic," Angel breathed out in awe.

"I have never...I didn't think it was possible," Karen replied.

There was a light thud as Lucy fell to the ground unconscious. Karen and Angel quickly ran over.

"She's okay. Just magically exhausted," commented Karen as she picked up the blonde.

"I'll bet. That must've taken a ton of magic. And she's still supporting him even unconscious," Angel observed as she eyed the newly summoned spirit.

Hercules smirked once and looked over to the beaten up redhead.

"Hercules, Greek Hero and Hydra slayer, at your service. You have fought well and bravely, but I will pick up the fight here. May I?" He gestured toward the sword.

Erza nodded and handed the sword over wordlessly, still a little drained from the aftershocks of Lucy's massive power release.

Hercules nodded appreciatively at the sword, now securely placed in his hand.

"Caleum, if you please. Heavenly Blade mode."

The sword started to glow as it shifted into a longer blade made out of pure light.

Hercules smiled as he felt the familiar weight of the sword in his hand. He faced the Hydra.

"Looks like we meet again, monster. Prepare to meet your doom."

He charged, and with one clean strike, the final head came off. The Fallen exploded into golden dust and a single key lay where the Hydra once stood.

Karen ran forward and collected the key as Angel collected Caleum once more. The two turned to face Hercules, who was already starting to glow, signifying his departure back to the spirit world.

"How are you here?" Karen asked, hoping to get an answer before he disappeared.

Hercules gave a small smile. "I was called here. So I came."

"But we didn't have your key," Angel added in.

"As you know, spirits come to your world through what you call 'gates' and that keys are merely tools that help channel and direct your magic to open a specific gate," Hercules explained.

"However there is no actual 'gate'. What actually happens is the magic you channel goes to a specific spirit and the path of your magic is a pathway for us to come through to your realm. It is supposedly impossible to locate a specific spirit without the specific key."

"So how did-"

"She used her magic to make a path between the entire Celestial Realm and here. In other words, she had essentially opened all of the gates of the Celestial Realm." Hercules paused to let his words sink in.

"..." Karen and Angel were completely blank in shock.

"I was the only one that came through because she blocked the others from coming. She was able to manipulate the gate to only let me through. Essentially, instead of a forced closure, she used a forced opening."

The light around Hercules intensified as his lips tightened to a thin line.

"You're lucky if she ever wakes up at all. That was insanely dangerous. Don't ever attempt it. She may suffer from permanent magic deficiency. There is no telling if she will survive this."

And in a flash, he was gone.

While Karen and Angel were still trying to recollect their thoughts from the sudden shock, they felt two eyes glaring at them. They looked up to see Erza glaring at them with distrust.

"Who are you guys?"

* * *

**AN:**

Did you guys miss me? :) I missed you guys.

Thoughts? I didn't write the battle against Aquila cuz it was too much. Do you want me to include it next chapter or do you want me to just skip over it and we can get on to more exciting stuff.

And for the quotes, they're coming in next chapter. :D

Question: do you like the bolding of the spells? or is it distracting?

Question: how do you like the plot so far? Is the pace too fast, too slow, or its okay?

Please comment and favorite! lemme know your thoughts!

And be patient for the erlu which is coming.

Till next time

~Sosh


	10. Revealed

**AN: Erlu fluff chapter. **

_Previously:_

_"Who are you guys."_

* * *

Angel and Karen froze. It was very obvious that they were both celestial mages at this point. But before they could think of an answer, an ear splitting scream cut through the air.

Erza turned around abruptly. Aquila was currently dangling Wendy by the beak. Gray's attacks were doing little to harm the Celestial spirit.

Erza glared at the two suspicious characters. "You got lucky this time. Next time, I want answers," she said before running off to help her friend.

"Wait!"

Erza halted in her steps.

"That's a Fallen Celestial Spirit. A Spirit that has gone to the dark side essentially. The only way to beat them, is to bring them back to the light side by using Celestial magic," Karen explained to the hasty redhead.

"...so you're saying you guys are the only ones that can beat that thing," Erza deduced.

Karen nodded. "We'll definitely help you but first…" Her gaze fell upon the unconscious blonde.

Fortunately Erza picked up on what Karen didn't say.

"You can bring her to Porlyusica. She'll help you and you don't have to worry about privacy with her," she said, knowing that the hooded figures still didn't want their identities known yet.

Karen and Angel looked at each other before glancing worriedly in Aquila's direction.

"But what about.."

Erza gave a small smile. "Don't worry about it. We'll take care of her. That you can count on. Hurry. We'll save our family and you go save yours. We'll hold on until you come back."

Angel and Karen gave the redhead a small smile under their hoods. True, the three of them were forced to be friends because of the STAR alliance, but they had undoubtedly grown close during this impossibly hard key hunt.

They quickly hoisted Lucy up.

"Go behind the guild, follow the path into the forest. Beware though, Porlyusica doesn't like humans nor outsiders of Fairy Tail. Just tell her you're friends of ours," Erza shouted her goodbye as she requiped.

"I'm sure we won't have too much trouble!" Angel shouted as she and Karen ran into the forest.

"Friends," she muttered to Karen. "They already consider us friends when we were stealing from them just moments ago."

"They are a crazy bunch," Karen muttered back in equal disbelief. She looked down at the unconscious blonde in her arms.

"She's lucky she's got such nice friends backing her always."

"She is."

* * *

_Lucy woke up with a massive headache. She panicked as soon as she opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything! Everywhere she looked it was pitch black. She was blind._

_"No!" she screamed out. "No! My eyes! Where am I? Erza? Karen? Angel? Anyone?" she wailed, clawing at the ground in front of her._

_Suddenly, a voice made her freeze._

_"It's been a long time."_

_A pause._

_"What are you doing here?"_

_The voice was not friendly. Lucy felt like she had trespassed and could feel her presence was clearly unwanted._

_"Um, I...I am Lucy. I am a Celestial Mage. Can you please tell me where I am? I must get back to my friends."_

_There was no answer. Lucy felt dismay rush her. She was left alone, lost and blind._

_"You don't belong here. How did you get here, human?" The voice was ominous and Lucy couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was coming from._

_"I-i'm sorry but I don't know how I got here and I can't see any-"_

_"You are not trying hard enough then."_

_"What?" Lucy was beyond confused. What was going on?_

_"What do you mean? I-"_

_"If you truly wanted to see, you would be able to. I do not know how you got here human, for no one has been able to come here for centuries, spirits and mages alike. But the fact that you're here now...interesting. Never had I seen a mage with such low magic levels."_

_The voice seemed to be talking to itself now so Lucy stayed quiet, not knowing what to say._

_"Human, if you truly wish to see me, see with your heart, not your eyes," the voice continued. "If you can do that, I will help find what you seek."_

_Lucy scrunched up her eyes in confusion. What was the voice referring to, and what does it mean to look with the heart and not the eyes?_

_She tried squinting into the dark for a couple seconds, but there was no change amidst the perfect blackness spread out in front of her._

_Sighing in frustration, she closed her eyes and tried a different approach. Erza had taught her a trick long ago. By reaching into her magic, and sending out her own magic energy, she is able to detect magic traces from other mages. Maybe it would work now…_

_Lucy got into a meditation pose, and took a deep breath. When she reached into her magic container, she felt...nothing. She felt the panic bubbling inside her again. Where had her magic gone?_

_She tried digging deeper, desperately, searching for any traces of her own magic. She had to have magic; she was a mage for crying out loud. Lucy felt like she was going to explode. She couldn't possibly search any deeper. Suddenly, she felt like she tapped into some magic and her body exploded in pain as magic filled her and left her._

_She screamed. As the pain subsided, she opened her eyes and to her surprise, she could see a small fire. The fire grew bigger as it got closer and Lucy could tell it was not a flame but a fiery bird._

_The bird approached Lucy and regarded her curiously with beaded eyes._

_"You managed to unlock your second origin, and all on your own too."_

_"My what?" Lucy asked panting. She was exhausted. She couldn't feel any magic inside her anymore._

_"Well, you managed to see me. So I will fulfill my promise. Your answers lies in the Capital. There is someone who can save you there."_

_"Am I sick?" Lucy asked, confused. She felt fine, minus the lack in power right now._

_"More than anyone. But there is a cure. You better hurry." The bird started to back away and get smaller and smaller._

_"Wait! Who are you? Can I see you again?"_

_There was no answer and soon the bird was gone from sight and the world was black once more. Lucy hunched over as her head exploded in pain._

_The last thing she heard before she blacked out was, "I'm a lot closer than you think."_

* * *

Karen and Angel ran as fast as they could back to Fairy Tail after dropping Lucy off safely with Porlyusica. They were greeted with the redhead sitting on top of the beaten eagle. The rest of Fairy Tail were jumping around, celebrating their victory in their typical rowdy fashion.

Erza, sensing their presence, looked up and smirked. "You said we couldn't beat it? It looks pretty beaten to me."

"Damn…" Karen breathed out. "Remind me never to get on her nerves...ever."

"Let's just hurry up and turn him back," Angel shuddered. She quickly summoned Caleum and aimed a shot at the beaten Aquila, turning him back into a silver key. After collecting Aquila's key, Angel and Karen turned around to face the rest of Fairy Tail.

"So…" Natsu started. "You guys...wanna tell us who you are?" he asked with a hint of hostility.

Karen rolled her eyes. "Well, as you can probably tell by now, we're a group of Celestial Mages, and we're on a very important mission."

Fairy Tail was silent. There was no doubt everyone's minds drifted to a certain blonde.

"What is your mission?" Gray asked.

Angel answered after a slight pause, "To collect all 88 constellations."

There was a collective gasp from Fairy Tail as murmurs broke through the entire guild.

"Is that even possible?"

"They must be really strong!"

"All 88? Then it must includes Lucy's…"

"Silence!" The redhead who had stayed quiet the entire time finally spoke.

She eyed the two hooded figures with sharp eyes. "Do you know Lucy?"

Karen and Angel felt stuck. Should they answer?

Hesitantly, Karen nodded, to which Angel gasped, "What are you doing?"

"Just go with it," Karen whispered back harshly.

"How do you know her? And where is she now?" Erza demanded, eyes even sharper now.

Karen cleared her throat. "Which Celestial Wizard hasn't heard of Lucy is the real question. All Celestial Mages have heard of the 'Lucy of Fairy Tail', the girl with nine out of twelve of the Zodiac keys. She's the strongest out of all of us."

Erza scowled, obviously unsatisfied with the answer. "Then why are you trying to collect all of the keys and do you already have Lucy's keys?"

She paused before adding, "Answer wisely. If we find out that you have hurt our nakama because of your missions...well let's just say your mission will be the last thing you need to worry about."

Karen raised both her hands as a sign of defense. "We have not and will not harm Lucy. If you must know, there are of course more of us Celestial Mages involved in this hunt, and Lucy is included in our group. She is our friend and we would never hurt her."

Fairy Tail seemed a little more relaxed at the news that their friend is alive but still suspicious.

"Then where is she?" Natsu demanded.

Karen and Angel shrugged. "We don't know the locations of all the Celestial Mages. It makes it harder for people to hunt us down."

"You still haven't answered my other question. Why are you looking for all of the keys?" Erza insisted.

Karen shrugged. "We don't know. Only that it is very important for all of the Celestial Spirits and for us Mages that we do."

Erza narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "There is still obviously a lot you are hiding from us. But...for now, I deem you guys are not an enemy, but not a friend either."

"We were friends just a few minutes ago," Angel muttered under her breath.

"That was in battle," Natsu spoke out immediately, having overheard due to his heightened hearing. "This is a different matter. This concerns Lucy and we are extremely protective of our own."

"Well if-" Karen was caught off by a loud explosion that came from behind Fairy Tail.

"Shit! Blondie!" Karen cursed under breath as she and Angel sprinted to the woods. Team Natsu followed close behind.

* * *

Without warning, Angel busted through Porlyusica's door while Natsu crashed in through the wall.

"They really don't use doors," Karen noted under her breath.

Hunched over on a bed in the corner was the hooded blonde. Lucy was clutching her head and…

_Was she glowing?_

Porlyusica stood a couple feet away, unable to get close to help.

"What's going on?" Angel asked as she cautiously approached.

"She was in a coma and showed no signs of having any magic within her when she exploded into light. I don't know what's going on. She should be dead," Porlyusica grunted.

Worried, Angel took a glance at the suffering blonde who has yet to look up from screaming into her hands. Slowly, she stepped forward. Karen took a step forward as well, ready to spring into action if anything went wrong.

Angel inched forward but as soon as her hand got within a couple of inches of the blonde, the light intensified and burned her. Angel recoiled, holding her hand.

"I can't get close," she said. The light was growing stronger by the minute, causing Lucy to thrash about on the bed.

"You have to calm her down or she's going to explode from over exposure to high magic levels," Porlyusica warned.

"Let me try." Angel noded and moved out of the way for Karen to go forward. However, after taking only a step closer, Karen was thrown across the room by the light's force.

"Well, that hurt."

The light completely surrounded Lucy now, as if she were made of light.

"You might want to hurry," Porlyusica commented unhelpfully.

"That's it. Move." Erza forced her way forward. She frowned at the light.

_It's so familiar._

Carefully, she took a step closer, her body struggling under the light's force. Her legs strained as she pushed closer and closer until she was right next to the blonde.

"Calm down!" Erza screamed to the hunched over figure who was whimpering in pain. Erza felt her heartstrings being tugged at the sound.

_She must be in so much pain._

Gathering her strength, Erza embraced the blonde from behind and held on to dear life.

"Listen to my voice! You have to come back to us. Your friends are all waiting for you!" Erza screamed, half from pain and half because a desperate feeling tugging at her heart.

The light only got stronger, but Erza held on tighter. She closed her eyes, preparing for the impact.

However to her surprise, the light all of a sudden died down, and Lucy went limp in her arms.

"She's-She's okay?" Erza panted.

Lucy groaned. Red hair was the first thing that invaded her vision when she opened her eyes.

_Red hair? Erza?_

Dazed, Lucy tried to move but felt something restraining her.

_Something's heavy on my back._

She looked up and was met with concerned brown eyes. Immediately her eyes widened, and Lucy felt blood rush to her cheeks.

"E-Erza?" Lucy backed her head away as much as possible. "What are you doing?" she asked as she realized the redhead was hugging her

Erza frowned and let go of the girl.

_She called my name just now. She called my name during the battle too…_

"Thank god you're awake."

Lucy looked up at the sarcastic comment. "You guys…" She teared up seeing Angel and Karen in front of her. Lucy noticed the shredded clothing on Karen.

"Why are you…?"

"You," Karen answered simply.

"What do you mean?"

"Your weird light thingy. It tossed me to the other side of the room."

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "What light-" She stopped as she went into a coughing fit.

"She's glowing again," Lucy heard Angel whisper.

The light pulsed for a few seconds before it died away once more.

"What is happening to me?" Lucy croaked, holding her sore throat.

Porlyusica spoke up. "You're dying."

Silence.

"Way to say it straight, doc," Karen muttered bitterly.

"No, no there's a cure," Lucy spoke up. Erza perked up.

"I don't know how, but when I was blacked out, I saw a vision, a bird. He told me to go to the Capital and I will find all my answers," Lucy explained.

"Did he say exactly what and where?" Karen asked. Lucy shook her head.

"The Capital...that's Crocus?" Angel asked. Karen nodded.

"That's a day's travel away. Even by train," Angel said worriedly. "It's going to take a long time just to get there and…" she drifted off, but Karen knew what she was thinking. _Was Lucy going to last that long?_

Lucy spoke up breaking the silence. "I think...I think it was the Phoenix. He was a fiery red bird. Seems to fit the Phoenix's image, no?" Lucy asked.

"The Spirit? That Phoenix?" Angel asked to confirm. Lucy nodded.

"Of course it would be you," Angel muttered.

Lucy was confused again. "What do you mean?"

Angel looked at Lucy helplessly before turning to Karen. "You know what I'm talking about right?"

Karen nodded, to which Angel followed up with, "I can't believe you, of all Celestial mages, wouldn't know about them," she said to Lucy.

"Huh?"

"The Four Great Ones?"

Lucy shook her head. She had never heard of such a thing.

It was Karen's turn to sigh. "I hate blondes," she muttered before turning serious. "There are four silver Spirits who only have one key and require a ridiculous amount of magic to summon."

"This is my first time hearing of this," Lucy frowned.

"The four of them are Phoenix, Lupus the Wolf, Vulpecula the Fox, and Draco the Celestial Dragon," Karen explained.

"Dragon?" Natsu perked up.

"Unfortunately, no one has seen these keys for centuries let alone summon them," Karen continued ignoring Natsu's outburst.

"Well, until you," Angel butted in, eyes fixated on Lucy.

"Well...he did say no human has seen him in centuries…" Lucy muttered softly. "How come I've never heard of them?" she asked.

Karen shrugged. "No one's ever seen their keys so it probably became a myth, a myth for everyone besides Celestial Mages. We know there are keys to all 88 spirits."

Lucy was quiet for a moment before she spoke up. "We know that there are 88 constellations, and therefore 88 keys. But we also know there are more spirits than just the 88, and more keys too. Do all Celestial spirits have keys?" she wondered, her mind going back to her mother.

_If mom was a Celestial being like she said, then should she also..._

Karen and Angel furrowed their brows."Oh right. The third mission. You still have the crystal key?" Angel asked.

Lucy wanted to facepalm herself. She had forgotten all about the key. She slipped out the secretly from her keychain under her robes and revealed it in her palm.

"What the heck?" she whispered out. The once crystal key was now a dark, fiery, blood red.

"This...is this the Phoenix key?" Angel asked almost breathlessly.

With trembling hands, Lucy held the key outwards.

"Only one way to find out."

She took a deep breath.

"I am connected to the Realm of the Celestial World. Hear me now! Open! Gate of the Phoenix!"

There was a flash of bright light. Lucy screamed.

"Stop it!" Erza suddenly jumped in, sensing something went wrong with the summoning. She immediately wrestled the key away from the girl who fell back onto the bed, holding her hand in pain.

"Owwwww. What the heck just happened? That's never happened before?" Lucy groaned, eyeing the smoking key now in the redhead's hands.

"Stupid girl, your magic levels are extremely low. You want to kill yourself even faster?" Porlyusica chided.

Karen then took the key and held it out. "I'll try then. I am connected to the Realm of the Celestial World. Hear me now! Open! Gate of the Phoenix!"

Nothing happened. There was nothing, no movement at all.

"Uhh…" Angel didn't know what to say.

Karen growled in frustration. "You wanna try?" she asked giving the key to Angel.

Angel held it out and chanted the same lines. Like last time, nothing happened.

"Maybe it's not the key of the Phoenix," Angel offered unhelpfully as she handed it back to Lucy who took it cautiously. Her hand still numb from when she tried to summon the key.

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Our first order of business should be getting to Crocus," Karen declared suddenly. "Are you in any shape to travel?" she asked Lucy.

Lucy was about to speak but was interrupted a certain requip mage.

"She's in no shape to move, let alone travel," Erza said, standing between Karen and Lucy.

Karen glared dangerously at Erza who returned the gesture.

"Who said you can decide for her, huh?" Karen challenged.

"I said no. She is not allowed to leave." Erza stayed firm.

"Uhh...guys? I'm fine. Besides the weird glowing, I feel actually pretty normal. Plus, I have a feeling I have to go if I want answers," Lucy interrupted before anything could happen.

Erza turned and this time placed her glare on the blonde sitting on the bed.

"You do not have permission to move from this sick bed," Erza demanded.

"Uhhh...doesn't only Master have that power to-" Gray stuttered nervously but immediately clammed up as he became the next victim of the famous glare.

"Master is out of town so I am in charge here. She does not leave," Erza stated stubbornly.

Karen walked up to the redhead. "Who the hell do you think you are-"

"Uh what happened to not getting on her bad side?" Angel whispered nervously.

"If you guys want to fight, bring it outside!" Porlyusica yelled crankily.

"Do you guys mind leaving for a bit? I want to talk to Erza," Lucy asked.

Karen looked over in concern before relenting and walked out the cabin in an angry huff. Angel followed in a hurry, backed up by the rest of Team Natsu. Even Porlyusica walked to a different room to give them privacy.

Lucy turned to face the one lone person in the room besides her and sighed.

"You know, huh."

Erza scoffed. "You called out my name. I had a feeling the moment you saved me. Plus, you might be disguised but your mannerisms and aura are still the same. Also, I always feel like I have to protect you."

Lucy smiled and pulled down her hood. There was no need for it anymore.

"I'm that obvious huh?" she asked with a sad smile.

"To me you are," Erza replied seriously.

Seeing the lone tear roll down from Erza's right eye, Lucy couldn't help but let her tears loose too. She no longer had to hide.

The second Lucy held her hands up for a hug, Erza had alretady moved in.

"You idiot, why did you leave?" Erza asked softly, stroking the blonde hair.

"I'm sorry," Lucy sobbed. "I missed you guys so much. I'm so glad you guys are okay. I thought- I thought-"

"Shhhh," Erza calmed the shaking blonde. "It's okay. You came back. However…"

She pushed herself away to fully look at the blonde's face.

"You're not okay," Erza stated concerned.

Lucy smiled softly. "It's okay. I'll be okay. The cure lies in Crocus."

"I'm still not letting you travel."

Lucy pouted. "Whyyyyy?"

"It's too dangerous. You're weak. You can't even move let alone summon a single spirit."

Hearing this, Lucy frowned. She still hated being called weak. "It doesn't matter. I know my friends will protect me. And I am strong enough to move. I _will not_ be a burden," she insisted strongly.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Who are your friends anyways?"

At this Lucy chuckled. "You won't believe me. They're Angel and Karen."

Erza frowned a bit at this, thinking the names sounded familiar. "Angel as in Oracion Seis?" she asked incredulously.

Lucy nodded slowly.

"And Karen...Celestial Mage...Blue Pegasus Karen?"

Lucy nodded again.

"But I thought she…At least according to Loke, she-"

Lucy smiled. "That's what I thought too, but somehow she survived. And now we're friends."

Erza frowned. "So let me get this straight. You're traveling with a dark mage-an ex-villain, not to mention, wanted by the Magic Counsel, and a woman with a bad reputation among the Spirits and supposedly dead."

Lucy nodded once. "Yup!"

Erza sighed and shook her head. "Why am I not surprised. You always did manage to get yourself into the most troublesome situations."

Lucy playfully frowned at that. "Hey, they all turned out okay didn't they?"

"Only because you were saved every time."

Lucy smiled, albeit nostalgically. "Yeah, Natsu was always there for me."

At this, Erza frowned. "Hey, I was there too, you know?"

Lucy chuckled and hit Erza playfully on the shoulder. "Yes, yes. How can I forget, my own knight in shining armour."

Erza smiled abashedly. "I missed this. I missed you," she confessed in the quiet, gentle voice that is so unlike Erza but at the same time so Erza.

Lucy leaned against the girl's shoulder and smiled into the crook of Erza's neck. "Yeah I missed girl's time, when there were no noisy boys trying to fight."

Sitting upright, Lucy stared right into Erza's eyes. Brown clashed with brown, and red clashed with blonde.

"I need to go to Crocus," Lucy stated, eyes not wavering from Erza's own pair.

Erza sighed. "I knew you would say that. You were always pretty stubborn. Alright you can go."

Lucy smiled widely and enveloped Erza in a giant hug in excitement. "Thank you. I'll stay safe, I promise."

Erza softly patted Lucy's head. "I know. I'm just worried."

"Wait, I a brilliant idea." Lucy said suddenly, head popping off of Erza's shoulder. Using both of her hands, Lucy grabbed Erza's shoulders.

"You should come with me!" she claimed excitedly, shaking the redhead a little in the process. "You can keep an eye on me and keep me safe. It's a win-win!"

Erza chuckled at the blonde's sudden hyperness. "If that's what you want."

"It's settled. We're going to Crocus! Oh, wait." Lucy turned to looked at Erza. "No fighting with Karen."

"Oh, so Karen was the infuriating one?" Erza asked. "I don't like her. Was she also the one who went up to the second floor?"

"Yeah, that was her."

Erza then raised an eyebrow. "Which means, you were the one that tackled me...twice!"

"You tackled me once!" Lucy retorted.

"So I still have one more to pay back," Erza joked.

Lucy's eyes widened in fear. "No you don't! Your tackles are way harder! They count as three of mine!"

Erza laughed. "Alright, you got me there. One more thing."

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"Why...Why was I not able to use the sword?" Erza asked, obviously troubled, making Lucy laugh.

"Of course, that would still be on your mind. The sword, Caleum, was actually a Celestial Spirit. Only Celestial Mages or other Spirits can wield it. That's why it didn't work for you."

"Oh." A small frown was still adorned on Erza's face.

Lucy playfully pinched the girl's cheeks. "Aw don't be upset. You're still the best swordsmen I've ever seen. Best swordsmen in all of Magnolia, heck, all of Earthland and Edolas!" she claimed.

Erza smiled coyly. "Swordswomen. Best swordswomen."

"Of course."

* * *

"Where is she? She's late," Karen complained to Angel. The two were standing at the train station waiting for a certain blonde.

"She'll be here soon. Oh there she is," Angel said as she waved.

"Why is she here?" Karen asked as soon as she spotted Lucy and Erza.

"She's coming with us," Lucy said simply and took off her hood as she settled into a train compartment.

"Uh since when? And why did you take off your hood?" Karen asked, settling next to Angel across from Lucy and ugh, her.

Lucy sighed. "She figured out it was me. She knows who you guys are too."

"Wow, way to blow our cover," Karen complained as she and Angel took off their hoods. "We worked so hard to cover for you too."

Lucy smiled apologetically.

"Does anyone else know?" Angel asked.

Lucy shook her head. "Only Erza so far."

"Are you not going to tell them?" Erza asked.

"Not now. I don't want them to worry about me. I mean, I am dying," Lucy said as she watched her skin glow faintly. It didn't even hurt anymore. She became numb to the pain.

Erza bit her lip. "Stop saying that."

"What?"

"Stop saying you're dying. You're not going to die!" Erza all but yelled.

Taken aback, Lucy patted the girl on the back, hoping to calm the redhead. "Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you...but I haven't given up. We are going to find the cure."

Karen suspiciously eyed the two back and forth.

"What?" Lucy asked, noticing the looks from Karen and Angel.

"You two are gross," was all Karen said before she crossed her legs and looked out the window.

"Okayy…" Lucy trailed off.

Angel let out a cute chuckle. "What she means is, you two are cute together."

"What?!" Erza's faced immediately turned red.

"Woah! Erza, you okay? You're face is completely red," Lucy asked worriedly.

"I'm fine! I'm fine. Just hot," she said fanning herself.

"Yes, yes you are," Angel smirked.

"What?!" This time it was Lucy's turn to look outraged.

Angel chuckled. "I'm just joking. You two are too much fun."

Both Erza and Lucy were blushing furiously at this point.

"Jerk," Lucy mumbled, to which Angel merely responded by sticking out her tongue.

"Anyways, Lucy, you still haven't explained to me what all of this is," Erza said gesturing with her hands.

"Oh right. Well, I don't really wanna bother you with the details, but basically we're on a mission to collect all 88 keys."

Erza gazed at Lucy skeptically. "You're not going to tell me anymore, are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine. You'll tell me later anyways. I'll wait," Erza huffed.

Lucy giggled and placed her head on the redhead's unarmored shoulder. Blissfully, she fell asleep, missing the eye rolls from Karen.

* * *

"What do you guys want to do first?" Lucy asked playfully before doubling over in pain as light emitted from her.

Erza looked over in worry, but Lucy raised a hand to show her she was fine.

The four of them had just arrived at Crocus. Lucy, Angel, and Karen had their hoods up; after all, their identities was still a little troublesome to reveal.

"Let's go stop by the magic shop, see if they have any keys to sell," Karen suggested and started walking, with Angel following behind.

Lucy took a step forward, only to end up stumbling. Luckily for her, Erza caught her just in time.

_Ouch, my legs just gave away. Guess I still haven't recovered from the last attack._

"You okay?" Erza asked worriedly, and Lucy somehow couldn't help feeling drawn in to those rich brown eyes.

Angel and Karen who were now a good block ahead turned around.

"What the heck?" Karen yelled exasperatedly.

"What are you doing back there?" Angel screamed.

"Get that Celestial ass of yours moving, blondie!"

The two turned to face each other with disgust at the moment of synchronization.

"What the heck? Get your own personality," Karen taunted.

"No one told you to copy me," Angel retorted.

"As if I want to copy something as kinky as you," Karen sneered.

"Excuse me, have you seen your green hair?" Angel fired back.

"Are you guys coming or what?" At this point, Lucy and Erza had long surpassed the duo.

"Keep up," Angel said with a huff and hurried forward first.

"Angel, my ass. I'm dragging her to hell with me," Karen muttered under her breath.

* * *

"Is this it?" Lucy asked, staring at the giant stone building in front of them.

"Looks like it," Karen said and maneuvered to open the door, just as another person wearing a cap was walking out and accidentally bumped into Karen.

"Hey watch it, kid!" she cried out but the person only ran away without saying anything.

"Rude," Karen muttered.

"Just go," Angel said, pushing Karen in.

The four walked up to the owner, who eyed the three hooded figures suspiciously but brightened up as soon as he saw Erza.

"Why it's the great Titania of Fairy Tail! Welcome, welcome. What may I help you with today?" he asked.

"Do you, uh, do you have any...Celestial Keys?" Erza asked.

The man suddenly furrowed his eyebrows, before clearing in understanding. "Oh. Were you hoping to buy them for Lucy?" he asked, obviously a fan of Magnolia's number one guild.

Erza blushed, "U-uh. Of course," she stuttered, not knowing what else to say. Unbeknownst to her, Lucy was also blushing under her hood.

"Unfortunately, I do not have any. There was a fresh shipment, but a young girl just now bought them all," the shopkeeper said, his face showing the deepest remorse. "But I have a few armors that may-"

"Ah no, it's okay," Erza smiled, albeit hurriedly, as the other three rushed outside the store.

"Hurry! After the rude girl!" Karen screamed.

They ran towards the direction of the girl.

Sensing someone was chasing her, the girl took once glance back and started sprinting.

"After her! Don't let her get away!" Karen screamed, running ahead of the rest. Lucy was panting behind her, desperately trying to keep up.

_I hate running. Why does this seem so familiar?_

Suddenly, Erza summoned a sword in one hand and threw it. The sword landed directly in front of the girl, effectively bringing her to a halt and making her scream.

Karen then grabbed the girl.

"Ahhhh! Help me! Kidnap! Kidnap! Hands off of me! How dare you touch me! Help!" screamed the girl as she thrashed about.

Lucy, seeing the citizens of Crocus looking their way, immediately shushed the child. "Shhhh...we're not here to kidnap you. We just want to ask you about your Celestial Spirits."

The kid suddenly stopped thrashing about and looked up at the Lucy.

"What about them?" she asked suspiciously, clutching four keys to her chest protectively.

Angel held up her hands. "We mean no harm. Look, we're Celestial mages too." She slowly reached down and brought out her keys.

The kid's eyes widened at the sight of the keys.

Seeing the positive reaction, Lucy immediately took out her keys too and gestured Karen to do the same.

"That's a lot of keys," she exclaimed and took a step forward, her previous fear all gone, replaced by curiosity.

But then, she paused. "But I still don't trust you guys. You guys are too suspicious."

Slowly, Lucy lowered her hood, and watched as the young girl's eyes widened even more in recognition.

"You're-You're-You're Lucy! Lucy of Fairy Tail!" the child exclaimed, her personality taking a complete one-eighty. "You're my hero! The strongest Celestial Wizard ever! I wanna be just like you!" she announced proudly.

Lucy chuckled lightly. "Glad to meet you, uh…"

The child smirked before taking off her cap. Her green tresses fell just below her shoulders. Then she took a step back and curtsied.

"Nice to meet you. I am Hisui."

* * *

**AN:**

Gasp it's princess Hisui as a kid! Oh lots of fun. I wonder what keys she'll have :)

Was the Erlu natural? I wanted it to be just deep friendship for now and then transition into the...you know...

This chapter was kind of rushed and I apologize but I really wanted to continue with the plot.

Hope you guys like it. Keep commenting! It makes me motivated to write!

Till next time

~Sosh


	11. The Lost Healer

**Previously:**

_"Nice to meet you. I am Hisui."_

* * *

Karen raised an eyebrow at the fancy gesture.

_What kid curtsies these day? What a brat._

"So, Hisui, how old are you?" Lucy asked.

Hisui regarded the four carefully. Two of them had yet to pull down their hoods, causing her to be cautious.

"I'm eleven," she answered carefully.

"Eleven…" Angel muttered. "That's the same age as Yukino."

"Not too young," Karen muttered back.

Lucy's eyes widened suddenly, realizing what the two were implying.

"You can't be serious. She's just a kid," Lucy protested quietly as she turned to face them, trying not to alarm the kid.

"She's still a Celestial Wizard nonetheless," Angel insisted. "And we need all the help we can get. In case you haven't noticed, there aren't many of us out there."

"But it's dangerous! We're asking her to risk her life!" Lucy half screamed, half whispered, hoping not to scare the girl away.

Karen cut in. "I agree with Angel. We have to tell her. She has the right to know. She can just join later on when she's older, like Yukino."

Lucy was about to voice another protest when a coughing fit hit her. She started to glow, startling Hisui in the process.

"What's going on?" the little girl asked. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Lucy smiled weakly. "I'm fine-"

"She's not," Erza cut in.

Hisui looked to Erza, her face displaying fear and worry. "What's wrong? Is she sick?"

Erza nodded. "She's dy-"

"You can cure her."

Erza glared at Karen for cutting her off, but the woman disregarded the look.

"How do you know she's the answer?" Angel asked her companion.

Karen shrugged. "How many Celestial wizards are there? What are the odds we run into one, in Crocus of all places?"

Lucy bit her lip, still unsure of how she felt dragging a kid into their mess. It didn't matter if she were a Celestial mage, she was still a kid!

However, Karen paid no heed to the blonde's worries.

"Can you show us your keys?" she asked to the little kid.

Hisui paused in hesitation. "Uh...I don't have that many," she replied carefully.

Angel tried to muster her best smile. "That's okay. We just want to see what you have. You might be able to save our friend."

Hisui cast her eyes down. "Um, well. I suppose…" she answered, voice low and hands fidgeting.

Angel narrowed her eyes at the kid's obvious discomfort. The kid was clearly hiding something from them. But what exactly…

Shaking her head, Angel tried one more push. "Please? Her life may be in your hands," she persuaded, half bluffing, and half telling the truth.

Lucy spoke up suddenly, catching onto the girl's discomfort. "Guys. If she's doesn't want to show us, don't force her to-"

"Okay."

Her reply was small and quiet but Lucy was just able to catch it. She paused and looked down at the girl who was still staring at the ground. Suddenly, the girl looked up.

"But I don't have them with me right now. I'll agree to show them to you guys if you guys promise me one thing," she said, her eyes staring intensely into Lucy's. Lucy gulped and nodded.

"Meet me here at midnight. No questions asked. I'll bring the keys," Hisui said.

The four adults paused, regarding the green haired child curiously. As Angel opened her mouth to question the child's motives, Karen quickly cut in.

"You got yourself a deal kid. See you here in five hours then."

Hisui nodded twice, before putting on her cap and glancing around.

"Now if you'll excuse me." Hisui took a step back and curtsied her farewell. Turning around, she dipped her cap lower and ran off towards the center of the city, the palace, leaving the four suspicious figures standing in the middle of the bustling street.

"I wonder why she told us to meet her at night, instead of just going home and getting her keys. Don't you think it's a little suspicious?" Angel asked as soon as Hisui was out of sight.

"She's eleven," Karen deadpanned. "She's not going to have some evil plans to kill us."

"That's not what I was implying. But doesn't it feel like she's hiding something?" Angel asked, still not letting the subject go.

"I do think she is hiding something, but I wouldn't worry too much. She probably just didn't trust us with her home. She is eleven and has very good reason to be suspicious of us," Erza spoke up.

"I mean we did chase her down. And we are not the most...innocent group of people," Lucy added in cautiously, eyeing Karen and Angel.

Angel huffed. "Touché."

"But now we have some time to kill. What do you guys want to do?" Angel asked.

"Well, I think we should-" Lucy was cut off by a loud cheering not too far away.

The four looked over in the direction and found a giant crowd incoherently shouting. Lucy glanced at the other three, noting the obvious curiousness in their eyes. Wordlessly, she started walking towards the crowd as her friends followed her lead. Quietly and smoothly, Lucy managed to squeeze her way through the rowdy crowd to come to the front.

She was greeted by a wide, wooden square platform. Atop the platform, stood two burly men, and judging by their intimidating stances and various cuts and bruises all over their bodies were were currently in the middle of a brawl. The noisy onlookers were cheering and throwing jewels into the betting pots. The words "Champion Brawl" were waving from a red tattered flag.

"What is this?" Lucy asked, never having seen such a sight before. Karen narrowed her eyes.

"They're magical brawls, battles between wizards. Winner gets the pot of money," she explained, her stoic expression unwavering even as one guy gets blasted off the platform. "I used to participate in them way back. They used to be very popular but died out due to major health concerns. There were often fatalities."

Lucy winced. "Sounds barbaric." Her gaze flew to the winner of the round. The man was bald, burly, and heavily clothed in a black cloak which Lucy found weird since it was the middle of summer.

Unfortunately Lucy had no idea what his magic was. He had beaten the other mage, a fire mage Lucy deduced from his fire attacks, with only brute force.

Another feature stuck out prominently. The guy had no eyebrows.

The guy raised his arms in celebration and scanned the crowd with a smirk, looking for the next challenger. Lucy shivered when his eyes seemed to stop at her.

Lucy suddenly hunched over and was thrown into another violent coughing fit.

_Crap. Please tell me I'm not glowing._

Blinking away the tears, Lucy was scared to straighten back up.

_He's looking at me. I can feel his gaze. Oh my Mavis._

"Anyone brave enough the challenge L?" the announcer asked. Lucy looked up meekly and let out a shaky breath as she realized the guy, whose name was probably L, was no longer looking at her and instead was standing in place merely smirking into the crowd.

Erza moved forward, as if drawn in towards the platform, but Lucy quickly grasped her elbow.

"Don't," Lucy whispered hoarsely with a shake of her head. Something about this guy told her it was a bad idea and she didn't want anyone getting injured. It was too reckless.

_Why do I get the feeling he is suppressing his magic?_

To Lucy's relief, Erza stayed back, but her relief was short lived as Angel walked up.

"What is she doing?!" Lucy whispered harshly to Karen before breaking into a cough. They watched Angel climb up the platform. "She's going to expose us all!"

"What's your name?" the announcer asked the newcomer.

"...Sorano," Angel answered after a slight pause.

Lucy wanted to facepalm.

_Sure. Hide your identity by giving out your real name. _Lucy sighed._ At least she didn't say "Angel."_

The announcer smiled. "Alright then, Sorano. Let's get this brawl started! Shall we?"

The crowd immediately went wild. Lucy felt Erza and Karen tense next to her and knew that she wasn't the only one feeling anxious.

"We're pulling her out the moment it gets too serious, understand?" Karen whispered. Lucy merely nodded. They could not afford to reveal their identity.

* * *

Angel couldn't believe her eyes. Mostly because it has been two minutes and none of her hits had landed. She had tried all sorts of attacks, from aerial attacks to ground attacks, to even wrestling techniques. But it was as if the man had eyes behind his back. Even surprise attacks didn't work on him.

Angel huffed. It wasn't just that.

Once or twice, she would aim a punch which she swore should've hit, but moments before her fist could make contact, the man would seem to disappear. It was ridiculous. No one moves that fast!

He was very hard to keep sight of too. A second lapse in her concentration and she would lose the guy only to have him appear right behind her. Her experience was the only thing keeping her unbruised.

_Ugh his eyes don't even look human. And he's as silent as darkness itself._

* * *

It's been two minutes. The crowd was starting to jeer, yelling at them to hurry it up. Lucy on the other hand, was less enthusiastic. Something in her gut was telling her to _run_.

There was something wrong with the fight. Maybe it was just her, but Lucy could've sworn Angel looked troubled and frustrated. It was abnormal. Two minutes in and Angel had not landed a single attack. The man would dodge out of the way effortlessly.

But she seemed to be the only one who noticed. Stealing a quick peek at Erza and Karen, she noticed that they seem to have calmed down after their initial nervousness. They weren't on the edge like she was.

Lucy's eyes roamed her surroundings, trying to find the source of her anxiety. Her eyes kept flitting back to the man in black standing on the platform.

"Hurry up and use your magic!" someone screamed from the crowd.

The man in black suddenly lunged.

He grabbed Angel by the neck and lifted her high. Lucy fought back a scream. Angel struggled to wriggle out of his grasp but managed to place a kick on his shoulder, causing him to loosen his grip. Angel quickly retaliated, but the man was quick to block. The two jumped apart once again.

The man smirked but stayed silent.

Lucy felt a sudden surge of magical power. She felt Karen grasp her wrist. She looked over, seeing the girl's panicked expression mirror her own and immediately nodded. The man was about to make a move. It was time to get Angel out of there.

Erza was the first to spring into action. She swiftly jumped onto the platform.

"Show's over!" she announced and stabbed a sword into the wood, hoping to scare away the angry crowd. Lucy and Karen immediately jumped on as well, facing the man in black who was still silent.

A murmur rippled through the still crowd. They were confused how to react. But before Lucy could warn them any more, the man bent over and growled. Lucy could only watch in horror as the man's body transformed, growing bigger and bigger. His stature increased to that of a building and the platform shattered, sending the crowd running for their lives. When the debris settled, Lucy looked up and realized she was no longer looking at a man.

Lucy gulped. The reason why she felt so on edge and why the man's presence bothered her…. It all made sense.

A single look at Karen's and Angel's face confirmed it.

_He's a Fallen._

* * *

"Lucy! What do we do?" Angel inquired as they lept out of the way, dodging the attacks. Lucy took two deep breaths, trying to analyze the situation. There were too many questions running through her mind. _How did the Fallen disguise itself as a man?_

"Okay, first off, what spirit is that?" Lucy asked. Karen squinted up at the monster.

"It looks like a giant lizard."

Lucy agreed with Karen. The monster did look very lizard like. The thing was multicolored, scaled, hunched back, forked tongue, slitted eyes, a giant tale, and giant claws. It was easily wrecking every building in sight.

"But…"

Lucy looked up at Karen in concern. "What?"

"But I don't recognize it," Karen frowned. Lucy and Angel mirrored her expression.

_Me neither._

Lucy winced as the lizard destroyed another building.

"We have to do something," Lucy urged.

"Even if we're risking our identities being revealed?" Angel asked steely.

Lucy shrugged, unfazed at the icy look. She knew Angel meant well. "It won't be the first time."

Angel nodded and looked over to Karen who shrugged.

"Let's go beat some lizard ass."

Lucy was about to follow after them until Erza shot her a nasty glare.

"You're staying here," she commanded.

"What?! Why?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"You're still sick. Stay behind and watch for any openings. I have a bad feeling about this," answered Erza.

Lucy sighed. "Fine. Now hurry! Before it does anymore damage to the city!"

Swiftly, Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor as Karen and Angel called forth their Spirits.

"Open! Gate of the Sea Serpent! Hydra!" Karen called out as a familiar nine headed lizard popped out. "Let's fight lizard vs lizard," Karen smirked.

"Open! Gate of the Eagle! Aquila!" Angel shouted as the giant eagle appeared. She quickly jumped atop the Spirit. "We'll attack from above!" she announced and immediately, Aquila took to the sky, circling the giant lizard.

Once in position, the three mages nodded after a brief eye contact. They unleashed their attacks all at once.

**"Blumenblatt!"**

**"Aquila! Wind Magic: Storm Bringer!"**

**"**Hydra!** Poison Fang!"**

The attacks were deadly accurate, hitting the lizard in three different places, causing dust and debris to fly everywhere. The monster roared in pain. Lucy covered her eyes and took a step back due to the impact of the explosion. She coughed a bit as the dust filled her lungs.

_That should stop the Fallen._

However when Lucy opened her eyes, she was surprised to see the lizard still standing. There didn't seem to be any damage done to the scales of the lizard. The lizard roared again, this time Lucy recognized it to be anger instead of pain.

"What the heck?" Angel cursed. She quickly flew higher in order to dodge a claw. "How did that do nothing?"

"It must have a pretty tough hide," Erza observed.

The lizard stomped at Karen, sending her flying, then quickly turned and struck Angel out of the air with its tongue.

"Ewwww!"

"Angel, Karen! Are you guys okay?" Lucy called out worriedly. As the words left her mouth. she was suddenly thrown into a coughing fit. She leaned against a broken building for support. She didn't have to look down to know she was glowing.

Karen eyed her worriedly despite also being injured. "Are _you_ okay, blondie?"

Lucy nodded quickly, trying to reassure them. "Try attacking in the same spot!" Lucy yelled. The three nodded, showing they understood and once again quickly got into position.

"Aim for the eyes!" Lucy advised again, body still leaning against the wall for support.

"**Circle Sword!** Dance my blades!" Erza shouted.

"Aquila! **Wind Buster!**"

"**Nine Headed Poison Fang**!"

The monster once again roared as the attacks hit squarely on its head. Lucy looked up hopefully. To her dismay, the monster was _still_ standing.

"Any other plans?" Karen shouted frustratedly to the blonde as she dodged a claw swipe. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought.

_The attacks aren't concentrated enough and the hide is too strong._

"Arggh." It was Erza's turn to get thrown across the street like a ragdoll. Before Lucy could voice out her concern, Erza had already stood up and was brushing the dirt off her armor.

"One more time. Try aiming for a single point, like a spot in between the scales," Lucy suggested. "It has to be really concentrated though."

Erza huffed and quickly requipped into her Black Wing armor and launched an experimental stab right in the middle of the belly of the giant lizard. She purposely tried to aim between the scales. When she pulled back, she noticed something weird happening where she hit the lizard. She looked back, noticed Lucy's wide eyes, and nodded to the girl to show she saw the same thing.

"It regenerates," Lucy breathed out. She heard Angel curse from all the way up in the sky due to frustration.

"Well, how are we supposed to stop it now?" Karen asked warily. Lucy was silent for a second and then turned to Erza.

"Erza can you do that again?"

The redhead nodded and once again flew at the lizard at an incredible speed. Lucy watched with narrowed eyes as the sword made contact, broke through the hide and immediately started healing.

"What did you notice?" Erza asked, seeing the stormy look in the blonde's eyes. She was busy calculating.

"Two seconds," Lucy suddenly spoke up.

"What?"

"It takes two seconds for it to regenerate a small wound. We never noticed it before because once the dust cleared, two seconds were already over," Lucy explained. "I still need to confirm something though." Lucy looked over at Erza again.

"Can you attack it in multiple places? I want to see how fast it can regenerate multiple wounds," Lucy inquired. Erza nodded quickly and proceeded to fly about the lizard, attacking random places in its hide, all the while Lucy observed with careful eyes.

The lizard struggled, trying to hit Erza out of the air. Its tail managed to strike Erza right in the back, causing her to stop her assault.

Erza panted as she stood next to Lucy. "Did you get what you were looking for?"

Lucy nodded. "The regeneration time slows a bit, but not much. I wonder if it slows depending on the size of the wound."

Erza took that as a silent cue and charged once more. She stabbed its hide, opening a small wound, before instantly requipping into her Piercing armor and thrusting a giant spear into the wound before it could heal. She jumped back, requipped back into her normal Heart Kreuz armor.

Lucy watched in complete awe as Erza moved as quick as lightning, being able to requip and attack in less than two seconds. The Fallen had no time to react.

_She really is a master swordswoman._

The lizard gave an unmistakable cry of pain. Lucy eyed the wound, her mind keeping track of the seconds.

_5, 6, 7…7 seconds._

Lucy sighed in disbelief. A wound the size of small building regenerated in only seven seconds. Their window of opportunity to attack was small.

"It regenerates really fast," Erza echoed Lucy's thoughts with a slight frown.

"7 seconds," Lucy announced. "Erza." The blonde looked over to her old guildmate. "Do you think you can do that again?" she asked with a small frown. She didn't want to burden the redhead anymore. But to no one's surprise, Erza answered with a small smirk.

"Of course."

Lucy returned the smile and nodded. "Karen, Angel, I need you two to time your attacks right after Erza's. And I mean right after. Erza, you have to get out of there fast."

The redhead nodded.

"We only have seven seconds. Don't stop. Keep bombarding the lizard in the same place. Hopefully, we can overcome its regeneration powers like that," Lucy pointed out hopefully.

The trio nodded and quickly got into position. Erza requipped into her Black Wing armor and charged. After making the incision, she quickly requipped once again into her Piercing armor and pushed it through the wound with all her might, jumping back immediately as she avoided Karen's and Angel's attacks.

**"Wind Shreds!"**

**"Fang Incision!"**

Once out of the way, Erza requipped one last time into her Heaven Wheel armor and summoned her swords. "**Blumenblatt!**" she screamed as the hundred swords all aimed towards the single point on the lizard.

"Don't stop! I think it's working!" Lucy screamed from behind the trio. The lizard was thrashing about and wailing nonstop.

Just as Lucy was about to scream out in victory, the lizard _disappeared_.

Lucy wanted to cry. "What the _heck_? How does a lizard _that_ big just freaking _disappear_!?"

The trio ceased their attacks. They quickly surveyed their surroundings, their bodies tense in anticipation.

"Erza watch out!" Lucy cried out as the lizard suddenly rematerialized behind Erza. Erza turned around and brought her hands up to block the giant tail that came swinging at her.

"Erza!" Lucy cried as she watched the tail swing Erza across the street. But Erza appeared to be alright. Erza had her hands firmly gripped on the tail, trying to stop it. Her face was grim in concentration. Then out of the nowhere, Erza turns, takes a step, and swings the tail over her head.

Lucy watched in horror as Erza lifts the lizard, smashing it into the street.

"Holy Queen of the Fairies," Lucy hears Karen mutter. All Lucy could think was _'There goes another street of buildings.'_

When the dust from the destroyed buildings settle, Lucy's eyes bulged out.

There was not one lizard, but _two_.

_I don't think I can take any more surprises._

"Wait." Lucy turned to look at Karen.

"I know them," Karen claimed. Lucy raised an eyebrow in question.

"Isn't that Chamaeleon? And Lacerta the Lizard?" Angel pointed out. The short haired girl was back on ground next to Karen. Lucy noticed Aquila was nowhere in sight and guessed the spirit was back in the Celestial Realm.

Karen nodded at Angel's questions.

"So that lizard just now...It was a combination of Lacerta and Chameleon?" Lucy was even more confused now. Karen only nodded.

"It makes sense, kind of," Karen stated. "Lacerta is a spirit known for its ability to regenerate and split into the two like a lizard. And Chameleon is known for its ability to turn invisible, or blend in with the background. It can also shape shift, which explains how it was able to turn into a man before. Luckily, its scales aren't as tough as Lacerta's," Karen explained.

"Does this make it easier?" Angel mused, eyeing the two wriggling beasts.

Karen shrugged. "What's the new plan, blondie?"

Before Lucy could even open her mouth, Erza spoke up. "I'll distract the regenerating lizard for now. Take care of the other one first. I have a feeling it's invisibility abilities will be annoying."

Lucy nodded in agreement with Erza's plan.

"They're both annoying," Karen remarked, earning a glare from the redhead. "But we'll follow your plan. Angel and I will take care of...Mr. Disappearing Magician over here," she said as she eyed the barely visible lizard. "You keep the other one busy, and Lucy can watch over her girlfriend," she continued.

"W-what? I'm-W-we're n-not," Lucy stuttered in protest, face bright red, but Karen and Angel had already walked away to engage with Chameleon. Her face only became brighter as Angel's laughter reached her ears. Lucy turned to see Erza's reaction, but the redhead was already busying herself with Lacerta.

Lucy huffed to herself quietly.

_We're not together…._

* * *

_How do you fight something invisible?_

Karen smirked.

_By making it visible, of course._

The two already had a plan ready to fight Chameleon, all thanks to the blonde Ms. Genius Tactician.

_"Use light. Then, watch it's shadow,"_ the blonde had told them. It was such a simple, yet effective plan. Karen had to give it to the blonde. The kid's got a good head. Thankfully, night had fallen, making it a perfect time to cast shadows.

"Open! Gate of the Swan! Cygnus!" Angel summoned and smirked at the familiar 'ding dong' sound. "Cygnus, transformation! Reveal, The White Swan!" Odette, dressed in complete white, curtsied once elegantly at her summoning.

"Odette, you know what to do." Odette nodded once at Angel's words. She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. From within her chest, erupted a ball of light that quickly enveloped her and shined over the entire block.

Angel's eyes scanned the ground. "There!" she suddenly pointed. Karen didn't waste a second.

"Hydra!" The nine headed serpent charged forward. The heads all latched onto Chameleon's neck. "Now! **Nine Headed Fusion Blast!**"

Without letting go of the lizard's neck, Hydra sent a direct blast of light to the now visible lizard.

Karen smirked. _It's over._ She sent Hydra back and slumped over in exhaustion. It had taken a toll on her to keep Hydra's gate open for so long.

Unfortunately, the Chameleon didn't return back to its key form. It lay sideways, wriggling in pain on the ground. Karen screamed inwardly.

_Shit, I already sent Hydra back._

The lizard couldn't get up to an upright position, but that didn't stop it from sending its tail towards Karen who reacted too slow. She closed her eyes, bracing for impact.

When she opened them, she realized she was uninjured, though her pride was another story. The tail was pinned to the ground, a mere few meters in front of her. Seven swords protruded from it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the redhead send a smirk her way.

She rolled her eyes, quietly thanked the redhead for her alertness.

**"Light Magic: Rain of Light!"** Angel shouted as Odette shot a barrage of light rays, striking the Chameleon. The light died away, revealing a single silver key in the middle of all the debris.

Angel sent Odette back, panting. She too was getting tired from summoning two spirits. She picked up the key and threw it over to Karen who raised an eyebrow at the gesture.

"You deserve it. Just take it," Angel declared and walked over to help Erza and Lucy, leaving Karen no room to protest.

Huffing, Karen grabbed the key and followed after Angel.

* * *

"So, any luck?" Karen asked the blonde, who shook her head. Erza, who had been engaged with Lacerta the entire time, looked worse for wear. The swordswoman was scratched and bleeding in several places.

"Erza can't beat it by herself. We need multiple people to attack it at once," Lucy explained.

"Well, we're here now," Angel reassured.

Lucy nodded. "The idea is the same as before. Are you guys up for it?" she questioned, noticing the exhaustion playing in their eyes. However, the two smirked determinedly.

Angel eyed Karen. "One more time?"

Karen sighed in response. "Let's go." Karen held out a key. "I've been wanting to summon him for a while now."

"Open! Gate of the Hunter! Orion!" Out came a chiseled man in a white toga. Stature-wise, he looked like Hercules, only he had short brown hair. He carried a bow with one hand and had a quiver on his back full of bows.

Angel summoned Caelum. "Cannon form!"

Erza stood back for a second, taking a quick breather as the other two lept into action.

"Lucy," the redhead called out, her eyes never leaving Lacerta.

"Y-yes?" Lucy stammered, surprised at the sudden call.

"Have you noticed something?"

Lucy sighed and nodded in response. "It's regeneration has gotten faster since it split up with Chameleon."

Erza frowned at the answer. "I was afraid of that." Erza said no more. She requipped, into her Clear Heart armor, focusing on primarily offense and charged.

Lucy felt the guilt eating at her as she watched her three teammates get beaten and bashed around. Her plan wasn't working. Based on her observations, the regeneration time window has shrunk to around three seconds. That gave only enough time for one attack each. But three attacks just wasn't enough.

Lucy's frown deepened as the trio got whacked across the street. Lacerta roared in a cry of victory. She quickly ran to her friends.

"This isn't working," she declared.

"No duh," Karen spit. She had just face planted into dust. Lucy winced.

"We need more firepower," Angel stated the obvious. "Or this will never end."

Lucy looked up and noticed the moon. When they first started fighting, the sun was still up. Based on Lucy's calculations, it must have been three hours already.

_Why hasn't anyone sent help? We're at the capital of Fiore. Surely there must be wizards nearby to help us._

Lucy sighed. "There's no helping it." The trio glanced up at Lucy in confusion. They watched as Lucy pulled out a key.

"No," Erza protested immediately. "You're still sick. If you use anymore magic, you're going to kill yourself."

"Well, at this rate, we're all going to die," Lucy fought back. Erza narrowed her eyes, but Karen stepped in.

"No," she said firmly. "We'll do it." Karen looked over at Angel who nodded in understanding. The two stood up, facing the lizard. Simultaneously, they pulled out a second key.

"Open! Gate of the Swan! Cygnus! Reveal: Shadow Transformation. Odus!"

"Open! Gate of the Sea Serpent! Hydra!"

The keys erupted in a brilliant flash of light. Lucy watched in awe as they pushed past their limits and summoned another spirit, despite everything they've already done. She smiled discreetly.

Angel and Karen shared a knowing look. _They had grown stronger thanks to the blonde._

"Let's go!" Karen shouted and Angel gladly followed her lead in charging at Lacerta once more.

Despite the touching moment, Lucy couldn't fight back a frown. She once again felt useless. She was burdening her teammates again. She watched in envy as Erza once again created the initial wound, quickly followed by four simultaneous blasts from the Spirits.

Lucy coughed and winced as she looked down. She could feel the sickness creeping up on her. They had to finish this fight fast.

She looked up with hope, that quickly died down as she swallowed painfully. Lacerta was still standing, the huge wound was quickly healing. It let out a wild scream and charged at Lucy.

Lucy couldn't react fast enough, as her body threw itself into another coughing fit. She collapsed onto the ground clutching her throat.

"Lucy!" She heard her teammates yell her name, but she couldn't look up. Her eyes were closed with tears from the pain.

She heard the hit collide, but she was uninjured. She looked up to see Erza shielding her. The look on Erza's face sent more tears down her face. Lucy could see the fondness in the redhead's eyes as well as the pain. Erza was trying to hide the pain, but Lucy could see right through her. After all, they had known each other for years now.

"You okay?" Erza whispered, and Lucy knew it was because of the pain. Lucy swallowed painfully.

"You idiot," she chided softly as she reached up to cup Erza's face gingerly with one hand. Erza merely sent a weak smile.

"I'm fine. As long as you're okay," said the redhead. Lucy bit back a sob. She quickly hoisted Erza up. Erza leaned against Lucy.

"Any more plans?" Erza turned to gaze at the blonde. Lucy was touched. She could see how much trust Erza had in her. She trusted her to get them out of this situation.

Slowly, Lucy nodded.

_You're not going to like it though…_

"Can you guys try that one last time?" Lucy asked. "I have an idea." Erza smiled at her.

"Of course. We trust you, Lucy. I trust you."

_I know._

Erza turned to glare at the Fallen. She gritted her teeth. "Here goes nothing." She rushed forward. Angel and Karen caught on quickly and immediately moved to their positions, despite being drained of power.

Once again, Erza made an incision and requipped into her Piercing armor to quickly shove the spear into the hide. Karen and Angel followed. Erza retaliated as soon as she could too.

_How is this any different than last time? I wonder what Lucy was planning._

She glanced at the blonde out of the corner of her eye and felt her blood turn cold.

Lucy stood there, two shining keys in hand. However, the keys were not the only thing shining to Erza's horror. The girl herself was glowing a bright gold.

"Open! Gate of the Lion! Gate of the Bull! **Regulus Impact! Rampage!**"

The two extra attacks mixed in with the other five. Lacerta toppled with a mighty roar at the impact. But to everyone's dismay, it was still in its Fallen form, though the wound was still visible. Everyone could see the regeneration speed had slowed down.

Lucy felt her heart drop. It wasn't enough. She fell to her knees in exhaustion, glowing. Her breathing was labored as she struggled to keep Loke's and Taurus's gate open.

"Lucy!" Erza screamed.

Lucy suddenly felt a rush of energy. No it couldn't end like this. It will not end like this . Not if she could help it, and she could.

"ONE MORE TIME!" Lucy screamed with so much conviction Erza, Karen and Angel had no heart to argue, despite knowing the blonde was sacrificing her own life.

**"Purgatory Armor!"**

**"Rain of Light! Energy Blast!"**

**"Nine Headed Fang! Hunter's Arrow!"**

**"Regulus Impact! Tension Max!"**

A fifth voice joined in.

**"Hero's Victory!"**

There was a huge explosion, and Lucy was blown back, hitting a wall in the process. She coughed, the dust hitting her square in the face.

Karen, Angel, Erza, and Lucy crouched in anticipation, bodies tense, as they waited for the dust to settle down. Carefully, Lucy peeked an eye open, but her attention did not go to the silver key lying on the ground. Rather, it went to the little girl that stood across the four mages.

"Hisui," she murmured, fighting a shiver as she met Hisui's determined eyes. The girl did not look her age. Her eyes then flitted to the man standing next to Hisui and her eyes widened even further.

"Hercules…"

The spirit returned her gaze, his eyes grim.

* * *

"Lucy!" Erza worriedly called out as the blonde immediately crouched over and started coughing in pain. Erza furrowed her eyebrows as she realized the glow around the girl was intensifying.

Before she could run to the girl, a firm hand stopped her. Erza turned around, recognizing the spirit.

"Hercules," she breathed out. Hercules nodded once at her and approached Lucy carefully.

"So his owner was you…" Karen muttered, staring at Hisui.

Hercules stood before Lucy, a giant, compared to her own small frail frame.

"You found me," he said, his voice deeper than Erza remembered.

Lucy looked up silently, too weak to speak. Hercules sighed and bent down, placing one hand over her head. He closed his eyes. He started murmuring something under his breath, and soon enough his hand was glowing. Lucy closed her eyes as she felt warmth rush through her body from where Hercules's hand was.

When she felt the warmth go away, she opened her eyes again. Hercules was frowning down at her.

"I've stabilized your magic for now. I was able to return some of the magic you gave me when you force summoned me. But...," Hercules explained. "You're not fully healed yet. I can't do that. The only one who can is the...the Healer," he finished.

"The Healer…" Karen echoed. "Phoenix," she concluded. Hercules nodded in response.

"But no one has seen the Phoenix key. Hasn't it been lost for a very long time?" Angel questioned.

"400 years to be exact," Karen added.

Hercules nodded again. "That's what I thought too, but…" This time Hisui stepped up. In her hand, she held a single silver key.

Lucy eyed the symbol on the key. "Is that…" her voice was hoarse.

Hercules nodded. Quietly, Hisui handed the key over to the blonde who looked up in curiosity.

"I found it one day, in the forest behind my castle- uh my house," Hisui quickly corrected her slip up hoping no one noticed. "It was just lying there. I recognized the symbol to be the Phoenix's so I picked it up and tried summoning it. But I couldn't get him to come out," Hisui explained.

Lucy hummed. That was odd. She looked at the key in her hand, and slowly held the key, pointing it away from her body. She could feel the key hum in power.

"I am connected to the Realm of the Celestial World," she started out weakly. "Hear me now…" she paused briefly and prayed that it would work. "Open! Gate of the mighty Phoenix!"

A bright light burst forth from the key. Everyone watched in awed silence as rainbow colored fire erupted from key, shooting straight up into the air. The fire collected itself into a colorful ball of flame. The light intensified, as the unmistakable sound of a doorbell rang through the silent night.

'Ding Dong'

The light died away. A woman with short brown hair and a red robe, enveloped in fire stood in fire. Around the girl's neck hung a single, bright blue stone. Lucy's eyes widened and her eyes glistened with tears. Next to her, she felt Erza tense up too.

The woman finally opened her eyes and squarely met Lucy's gaze. She let out a small smile.

"Long time no see, Lucy."

Lucy felt her breath leave her.

"Eclair…"

* * *

**AN:**

Hopefully, this chapter wasn't too boring.. The past few chapters have been a bit battle heavy, so the next few won't be as battle heavy.

Please tell me your thoughts on how the plot is progressing. I'm writing this on the go so if you like or don't like the plot please speak up. I admit I'm a little lost, though I do have some ideas of where I want this to go. Is there anything you guys want to see happen?

Thank you for reading! Questions, comments, criticisms are all welcomed and wanted!

Also, thank you to the guest who pointed out that I accidentally revealed Lucy's name last chapter and to the reader who told me that Crocus was the capital name. I corrected it so hopefully it cleared up any misunderstandings.

Till next time,

Soah


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